Bitter Love
by michsky70
Summary: Isabella Greene is a hardworking girl who wants to love and be loved by a trustworthy man, little does she know that her world is about to be flipped over by businessman Edward Smith who is searching for something different. Revenge.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: I don't own Twilight or the characters :)**

 **Thank you for sticking around guys. This is the first chapter of my new story called Bitter Love and i hope you like it.**

 **Don't forget to check out all the pictures of this chapter at the official blog which is posted on my profile.**

 **Please do not disturb**

 **Reading ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

 **Let me tell you something**

 **Bella Pov**

"Dad I got a great apartment with Rachel in Brooklyn. It's safe and it's something I can afford" I hold my phone to my ear as I haul a cab from JFK airport to take me to my new home.

"Isabella Jane Greene! I don't care if you can afford the apartment or not. I need to know that you going to be safe and Brooklyn is far"

"Dad, you and mom live in Greenwich Village, don't exaggerate. The apartment building is brand new, the apartments are the perfect size and they have a 24/7 doorman" I needed to win his approval because he is a tough.

"I would rather give you the apartment that we are selling in Soho and have you two stay there instead. I'll charge you same amount that you are going to pay and the location is much better and closer to me".

"Daddy I need to stand on my own two feet here. It's not like I don't know the city, I was born here for crying out loud" I hear him about to open his mouth. "Just because I went to college in England and lived two years in Chicago doesn't mean I'm out of tune. You and mom have done your dues in raising me and my siblings and it's time for us to let go"

"For what I paid for all of you during college I expect for you to listen to my orders and agree to my proposal" I laugh.

"I am my father's daughter" my dad was a tough guy to handle but I loved to make him laugh whenever I can.

He breathes in frustration. "Fine. Be sure to call your mother later, I'm sure she would like to see you at her office tomorrow or the day after"

"Yes sir" I comply

"I have to go sweetheart, have a safe trip home"

"Love you daddy" I reply and hang up.

Being back in New York made me happy, it's the city that I love and has loved me back. I haven't been here in seven years, five years of college and two working in Chicago. I studied in Cambridge University and got my got my degree in Art History with a specialization in contemporary art, I worked hard through college and got my diploma with the highest honors in my class which made my parents proud and even though I didn't expect to get a well-respected job quickly at 21 years old, I got a job at a local art museum in Chicago as a curator and got an offer from the MOMA or Museum of Modern Art here in New York since they were impressed with what I did for the exhibition scene in the windy city. Now I'm back with a new job as assistant curator.

The cab stopped right in front of my building and I immediately got some help from a man who was cute and was nice enough to carry my luggage to the elevator.

"I'm Caleb" I puts his hand out and we shake.

"I'm Bella and thank you for helping me"

"It was my pleasure; I live on the 4th floor. We should hang out some time".

"Sure" I respond

He gets off of the elevator, leaving me to go to my apartment on the 7th.

"Hello…" I open the door and I'm instantly attacked by my best friend and now roommate Rachel Lopez.

"My wife is home at last! I was worried I would have to touch myself tonight" We share a hug that was 4 years too late. The last time we saw each other we were both in college and she came to England with Laura for summer break so we could do our European Road Trip together.

"As if you don't touch yourself when I am here" I arch my eyebrow.

"That is very true. I can't believe you're here! You are such a bitch for leaving me here after high school"

"I'm always a bitch according to you" I take a minute to sit in our new cozy living room. "You a bad bitch what can I say" she sits next to me. "Are you tired?"

"A little but I suppose we can head out and buy some things for the apartment" The apartment wasn't empty by all means, the big furniture like the couch, beds and dining room table had arrived yesterday and Rachel supervised the whole thing.

"Let's not procrastinate because we have a lot do to today and I plan on taking you out tonight Isabella Jane Greene"

"Rach I'm so tired I don't know if I can even go to dinner"

"Aww the poor baby" she hugs me as I put my head on her lap. I feel her hot breath on my ear. "We are going out, now move it" she slaps me on the butt causing me to shriek out.

 **Edward Pov**

"Fuck…." I swear as I watch CNN News from my office in downtown Manhattan.

 _Today, Walter James Taylor has been fired and fined for 100 million dollars after a judge found him guilty of deceptive financial fraud, hiding statements that are sent to every CEO and CFO of publicly traded companies for them to sign and be accurate to their annual reports. Taylor will not go to prison for his felony's but he will have to pay the hefty amount of money to his former employees and associate Ronald Hoffman. This case has been going on for a year with both parties hiring two of the best lawyers in New York City, one in particular being corporate lawyer Charlie Greene from Greene & Co. _

_Mr. Greene won the case for his client Ronald Hoffman by providing the incriminating information to the jury and judge which ultimately caused the demise of Walter James Taylor. These former business partners started their W &R Tech company ten years ago in college making it one the fastest growing computer software services in the country. (They show Walter walking out of court with his lawyer, ignoring the hungry reporters and leaving in the back of a silver SUV). This is all we have at the moment but stay tuned for the final words of Ronald Huffman, the man who will have the total control of the company from this day forward. We also expect a name change of the company by the end of the week._

I can't watch this shit anymore and turn off the flat screen T.V.

Walter was my best friend and seeing this happen to him was killing me inside. We both started on our own in college and became quick friends, we were even roommates at one point in Boston while I was studying in Harvard and he was getting his degree in MIT but it was something nobody knew.

"I'm sorry to bother you Mr. Smith but I have Walter Taylor on the line"

"Thank you Patricia" I make sure that the conversation would be private and accept the call.

"Smith" I answer

"I don't know what the fuck I'm going to do man, I'm ruined" he admits to me.

"You are innocent Walter. I believe in you and I will help you in every way I can"

"Of course I'm innocent, that piece of shit Ronald wanted me out of my own company and he accomplished it. Those papers were altercated and falsified"

"Walter I'm going to get you on the phone with my attorneys because yours didn't do shit for you"

"I know and to go up against a heavy weight like Charlie Greene I needed a miracle. He is the person to blame Edward, I fucking know it"

"He's just crook lawyer Walter. If someone's to blame it's Huffman for even stealing that information from you"

"Edward, it wasn't Huffman who framed me. It was Charlie Greene" he accuses.

"You see…." He starts explaining but then stops. "Fuck…I can't tell you on the phone. Meet me at Keens Steakhouse at 7 pm"

"I'll be there but are you okay?"

"I want to fucking strangle someone right now"

"You just avoided jail time Walter" I try to calm him down.

"You don't the full story Smith" he hangs up on me.

What the fuck is going on?

 **Bella Pov**

Rachel and I have been at Homegoods for an hour now and I think we went out of hand because not only did we get the last decorating items but we also hit up Ikea and Target for more home stuff, including kitchen appliances and tools.

"We need to check out!" I push my shopping cart and place it in front of hers. "But I want this precious tiger" Homegoods was famous for selling oversized stuffed animals for kids bedrooms at 70 dollars apiece. She couldn't keep her hands off it and at one point she decided to mount it and take it for a ride.

"I want it" She tries to convince me.

"There is no room in our small apartment and wild animals deserve to be free" Good excuse Bella.

"You are no fun" She walks away taking her cart filled with goodies to the cashier.

We arrived at the apartment around lunch time with bags and bags of stuff.

"I'll start placing the stuff for the kitchen, and you start doing the kitchen" Rachel suggests. I nod and hid myself into our relatively large bathroom for New York standards because we have a full size tub which was a must for us. I hear a knock on the door. It must be the Vietnamese food we ordered for lunch.

The door closes.

I was ripping our soup from the plastic when I felt two towels being targeted at my head.

"What the hell?!" I turn around

"You flirtatious little thing" she giggled

"What did I do now?"

"Our interested new neighbor Caleb wanted to know if we needed any help, or better yet if you needed any help with anything"

"Oh…I thought it was the food" I turn back and continue with my chores.

"Yes ohhh, that guy was salivating to be in your presence. I had to tell him that you weren't home" she laughs

"The situation with him has nothing to do with me. I am just a people person and he offered to help me with my bags, you knew I was coming and you didn't even help me!" I defend myself

"Thank god I didn't! You had more than enough hands!"

"Don't even…" I give her a stern look; In return she sticks her tongue out at me.

It took us the rest of the afternoon to fix up the apartment the way that we wanted it and when it was done we both feel into our beds to take a long nap.

"Bella! Bella! Wake up woman!" I scoffed and try to get her hands off of my body.

"Isabella Greene get your ass out of that bed! You have an hour to get ready before I call the car to pick us up"

"I'm sleepy! Leave me alone!"

"Move it!" she doesn't care about my feelings.

The softness of the bed was so good I didn't want to get out of it but hearing Rachel's threats made me wake up. I start rummaging through my closet and go for a casual look that didn't need a lot of effort. I go for an all grey look that consisted in some jeans, a tang top and a leather jacket, since it was kind of chilly outside considering it was March I put my feet into some boots.

"You better be ready because I already called the Uber!"

"You are so bossy" I grab my clutch and walk out of my room to meet with her in the living space.

"Shut up" she looks so pretty in pink with gold accessories and her hair in a braid.

"pink?" it was surprising because it wouldn't be the first color of choice for her.

"I had this jacket in the closet and I plan on getting ratchet tonight. We should go downstairs, he's a minute away".

 **Edward Pov**

I get to Keens Steak House to see Walter who was already waiting for me at a table.

"What's up man?" He stands up and we share a brotherly hug.

"My life is a piece of shit and I just lost everything I've been working for in the last ten years in one word. Guilty".

"I'm here for you man" I signal a waiter. "Bring us two whiskeys' on the rocks please" he nods and moves along to get our drinks.

"I want to go home shoot myself. There is no way I can build my empire again from scratch; I'm 35 years old, jobless and with no motivation behind me".

"We'll figure something out Walter. You are not going down like this" The waiter comes back and Walter doesn't waste time to make a dent on his drink.

"Bullshit, you have the most successful hedge fund company in New York City, reporters want to know your life and women want to take their underwear for you. I find it strange to compare situations"

"It's not a comparison, we are the same age I can't imagine that happening to me and all the hard work I had to do to build this company, especially in New York City" I take a sip of my drink. "But what did you want to tell me that you couldn't do on the phone this afternoon?"

"You know you helped me start the company since you work in investment…"

"We started our companies at the same time and I thought it would be smart for you to invest sooner than later" Walter was one of the first people to trust in me and my financial abilities and now he has more money than he could ever spend.

"I know and I'm so glad we did bro…ummm…Your name came up during the investigation"

"What?!" I almost choke on the ice cubes.

"Since I invested in your company, Huffman's lawyers thought that you were involved in those documents and wanted to search you out to implicate you as well"

"What the fuck do you mean Walter?"

"Don't worry man… There was nothing incriminating you in such papers, on the other hand, it stated you as a well-balanced company who helped the company make profit in the early days"

"Did my real name show up in the papers?"

"Your name shows up in some other papers that Huffman's lawyers didn't have access to because as you know I started the company on my own, Ronald got involved after a few months of its creation".

"So they knew that I had existed as financial support"

"Yes but they don't know who you are or that your company helped us the first couple of years"

"Those pieces of shit" I cursed

We asked for another round and the place was getting full.

"And this is all because I fell in love with a woman. The woman who tricked me with her youthful personality and looks to kill"

"What does a woman have to do with it?"

"I never told you about this but about a year and a half ago I met someone while working at our offices in Chicago. She was beautiful, intelligent and very quick on her feet. We started hanging out and eventually started dating; she would spend the weekends at my apartment and I ended up falling in love with her. She told me her name but never talked about her family or about their occupations"

"You lost me" I said since I didn't get where this was going.

"The girls name was Isabella Greene" Her name didn't sound familiar but her last name certainly did. "Wait a minute Walter…" I shake my head in disbelief.

"We broke after about 6 months because she said she couldn't love me back. A year later after the lawsuit was filed I find out that her name has a lot to do with Ronald's lawyers name, it couldn't be a coincidence. So after a little bit of searching on the internet I come to find out that Charlie Greene is Isabella's father".

"Wait. Wait. Wait. This girl that you fell in love with was Charlie Greene's child"

"Yes. I didn't know about Charlie Greene, the guy doesn't like to be on the news a lot but his wife is a big time chairman for a publication giant here in New York that manages a lot of authors and 25 per cent of every lifestyle magazine in the country, including Vogue. She is private but there are a bunch of photos of her circling around. People have told me that she is as cold as ice when it comes to business, just like her husband"

"If Isabella Greene is their child what does she have to do in your case?"

"She has everything to do Edward. This girl stole this information from under my nose to help her father win the case"

"I don't think so Walter"

"I was stupid enough to have these papers around her and when she would stay at my house. She probably took them to get copies to give to her father so they could fraudulent them and win the case for Ronald so he could be the sole owner of the company"

"You guys were already broken up and plus she is probably one of those socialite air heads that can't even read a full book without asking for definitions"

"You say that because you haven't met her man. She is the total opposite of rich and ditzy. She went to Cambridge University which explains why I didn't see pictures of her with her family, she got a job straight of college in Chicago where she lived with three other roommates in a tiny two bedroom apartment and she has never liked the camera, and she is so gorgeous that I would go out with her and guys would hit on her without even caring if I was there or not".

"You are giving her a lot of praise considering what she might have done to you"

"You don't believe me, then look at this" he drops some papers on the table. "Records show that she was at my apartment alone around the same time she broke up with me and then two weeks later the lawsuit was filed".

"Her name was on file in the papers it showed that there was camera surveillance proof to show that she was there"

"I'm sorry man" I hand them back to him and give him another drink, this time scotch. "We were all fooled, even you" he laughs in a sarcastic way. "Her father wanted to put you in jail with me and couldn't" when he says that it heated me up in fury.

I was going to investigate that woman and find out every single thing about her.

 **Bella Pov**

We arrived at Ginny's Supper Club in Harlem around 8 pm and the place was packed. It was Friday after all.

"Holy shit Bella!" someone shouts my name and I see a thin figure stand up. It was my friend Laura Wang.

"Hi!" I give her a big hug and kiss.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Rachel and Laura shared a common gift of swearing like sailors.

"I got here today"

"You bitch!" She slaps Rachel in the arm as Rachel laughs. "She told me you would be here on Monday"

"I'm full of surprises" I sit down and move to make room since we were in a booth. Laura sat next to me and Rachel was on the other side sitting on a chair.

"I missed you like crazy!" she takes out a cigarette to smoke. "Oh shit I forgot we can't smoke in here. I must have gotten to excited"

"The lesbian forgot a rule that has been lawful for the past five years" Rachel jokes around.

"Shut the fuck up Rachel"

"What I would do for that filthy mouth to be on me" she sighs towards me.

"I could make you come under this table, it's not my fault you like ugly dicks" Laura takes my hand since it's been awhile since we've saw each other.

My friends were the best and the best thing about being born and raised in this city was that I had the most diverse groups of friends, Rachel being a first generation child born here in the U.S of Dominican Decent and Laura as a second generation Korean that was born here. Rachel is that tallest one with 5'11, very curvaceous that fit perfect with her height, brown eyes and permanent suntanned skin, and Laura was only one two inches shorter at 5'9, thin with short black hair and a skin texture to die for. We all met in middle school when our lives were a living hell, being that all three of us were victims of bulling because I was too thin and underdeveloped; Laura was made fun of because of her eyes and sexually orientation and Rachel also fell victim to the overweight card. We bonded for our love in books, good grades and the ironic part was that by the end of college. I got my curves that included a 32D chest, Laura was a much solicited model during her time in college because of her eyes and Rachel grew and lost the weight except in all of the right places.

"I'm starving, my chubby girl realness is coming out" Rachel hollers to a waiter who comes by and we all order our drinks and some appetizers.

"So how's work sexy?" Laura looks back at me.

"I start on Monday. It's been great to come back" I smile. "How about you?" Laura works as a Genecist at Mount Sinai Hospital.

"Trying to find cures and transplantation methods, all in a day's work"

"I don't want to talk about work"

"ohhh baby did you have a tough day at work dear?"

"I was off today but yesterday the boss wanted us to change the design for a new appliance line that we are doing for Whirlpool. I was 90 per cent done and now it's back to the drawing board" Rachel is a fantastic Industrial Designer for several big companies. "I was about to tell him to fuck off"

"Why didn't you?" Laura asks mockingly.

"Don't make me throw this crab fritter at you?" she responds as we munch on the appetizers and I take a drink of my pinot.

"Have you talked to your family yet?"

"I chatted with my dad this morning, he is as overwhelming as ever, and I'll probably see the rest of my family tomorrow for brunch"

"I saw your dad on the news this afternoon. He won that W&R Tech case"

"I know I saw it on my phone when I flew in this morning but of course I didn't say anything to him. His business is not mine and I would rather stay out of it."

"The guy that was guilty of the charges is the same guy you use to date like a year ago"

"Yeah but it didn't work out. I had no feelings for him other than one of a good friend. I just feel bad how things ended and that my dad was on the other side of that court room"

"At least you never had sex with him" Rachel commented

"No! I would never sleep with someone who I didn't feel at least an attraction or some kind of connection. He was just a good companion and great guy, it's hard for me to believe that he did all of these stuff he was accused of and found guilty for it".

"These are the men we have to fight against…" she finishes her glass of cranberry vodka "And I'm glad you came back because I was living with a deceitful cheater myself three weeks before you gave us the news" Rachel had a boyfriend for almost three years and things went crashing down when she wanted to surprise him by coming early from work to only be surprise herself and see him having sex with another woman in their bed.

"This is exactly the reason why I'm gay and single" Laura points at the two of us. "Men have gross dicks and they are dicks in their personal life" I guess they both were into their vodkas.

"Don't say that, not all men are like that. I want to save myself in my own fairytale but having a person who loves no matter what and will protect you through it all sounds great. I do believe that still exists, we just have to be patient"

"That's why we are going to dirty dance with strangers and then invite them back to our place for some raunchy uncompromised sex"

"Poor Bella, she is going to have to hear your 'raunchy' moans through the thin walls. You can stay at my place if that ever happens" Laura comforts me.

"You have louder sex than me liar! Two women having an orgasm at the same time is the loudest thing you are ever going to hear! I've stayed at your apartment and silence isn't a one of its qualities" I couldn't help but burst out laughing as they join my tipsy trance. Three single ladies talking about the resonances levels of sex, very classy.

The night ended in us bar hopping and crashing at Laura's place where thank god no one had a partner to have sex with.

" _Disinformation is distinguished from misinformation in that it is intentionally fraudulent."_

 _Ellen P. Lacter_

* * *

 **This was the first chapter of my new story guys, it's something different and I hope you enjoyed it. We get a taste of what's to come and what these characters are all about.**

 **Is Walter really Innocent?**

 **Why doesn't Bella and Walter's story match?**

 **What will Edward do to help his best friend?**

 **I will be uploading the second chapter in a couple of weeks so we can get this ball rolling and provide you guys with more information. I thank you all for reading and have a wonderful week.**

 **Love you all**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I don't own Twilight or the characters :)**

 **Hey guys! We are now at the second chapter. Don't forget to check out all the pictures of this chapter at the official blog which is posted on my profile.**

 **Please do not disturb**

 **Reading ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

 **Dig a little deeper**

 **Bella Pov**

I think it was mistake to stay at Lisa's Brooklyn apartment after our night of partying. I was now suffering from a slight hangover on a beautiful Saturday morning and the same day that I had brunch at my parents' house to celebrate my return.

"I need to go home and get ready" I yawn as the three of us are lying in Lisa's bed.

"It's Saturday Bella. Call your mom and tell her you'll be a little bit late" Lisa whispers since Rachel was snoring comfortably in her underwear and the pink shirt she was wearing yesterday. "You know how she can be. My parents do everything on a schedule" I scratch my beehive head. "I need to see them"

"You guys are talking so loud!" Rachel starts complaining. "Don't you see I'm sleeping? It's too early!"

"Rache it's already 10:30 am and I need to go back to the apartment. I have brunch with my family and I can't be late" if Lisa's new roommate came into the room right now she would probably think that we just had a minage a trois last night. We were all in bed in our underwear and looking rough. I jump out of the cocoon and start putting on my pants.

"Okay I love you, I'll be here if you need me" she sighs and turns on the bed to go back to sleep. "Rache…" I stare at Lisa for some assistance since she couldn't stay like that all day.

"I will make sure she gets plenty of water and sunlight" she reassures. I finish putting on my boots, grab my clutch and jacket. "Thank you" I kiss Lisa and a half dead Rachel before closing the bedroom door and leaving the apartment.

The moment I arrive back at home, I take a quick shower and change into another monochromatic outfit but in a white palette. A long white thread blouse with some pants and for a pop of color paired it with blue heals that I bought online. For accessories I keep it simple with some earrings, a watch and braided my damaged hair so my mother wouldn't notice and kill me for not putting the time to go to a salon.

I finally get to my parent's gated townhouse in Greenwich Village with ten to spear and not a minute passes before the door opens.

"Aunt Bella!" A basketball team of kids and teens attack me. These kids were my six nieces and nephew who didn't want to wait to say hi to me with all the enthusiasm in the world. Blake, Kayla, Mia, Daphne and my identical twins Sadie and Avery.

"Can the little ones move so I can say hi to my aunt?" The oldest, Blake tries to get past the sea of girls. "No! You are going to squish her" Feisty three year old Daphne makes her presence known.

"Don't worry sweetheart he maybe as tall as your dad, yet he is still my Blakey" He laughs as I give him the biggest hug. I have to admit he has a special part in my heart since he is my only nephew. "Aunt B don't say that…I'm already living in a house occupied by women…The torture in my house is real" Blake was my brother's Adam son and his sisters were Kayla and the twins so you could say that what he was saying was the pure truth.

I wanted to move but the twins manage to push their brother to get to me. "We missed you Aunt B!" At six years old, they have grown so much since the last time I saw them during the holidays in Chicago. "Are you going to stay with us? We have two beds in our room. You can sleep in the other one." Avery asks.

"You guys are so sweet but I already have somewhere to live and I expect you to visit me!" I say when suddenly a very authoritarian voice comes through. A Voice that used to make my teen self scared of.

"Kids! I want everyone in the living right now and I want you to let your aunt breath!" It was Grandpa Charlie and when he talks…You listen and obey. The kids run away as he greets me with a big embrace. "How are you honey?" The menacing face disappears and it's replaced with the greatest dad in the world.

"I'm good. Life is good at my NEW apartment" I emphasize the word 'new' to mess with him about our silly argument about my living arrangements. He chuckles hauling me further into the house.

"I'm still holding on to that Soho apartment. You can't blame me for wanting my little girl close to me" He kisses my forehead.

"Your 25 year old little girl has found her passage daddy and it's time for you to relax" I put my hands on his shoulders. "I'm constantly talking to mom about you and I have come to the conclusion that you guys have worked too hard to be worried about your kids. We have flown the nest and you two should take advantage of that".

"We will work until we no longer love what we are doing. You are my youngest child and I am getting close to the age where I can say whatever the hell I want!" Old grumpy is back.

"Bella!" my sister Scarlett hugs me first as we entered into the living where the intimate party was going on. There were balloons, a big banner that said 'welcome back aunt Bella!' that was obviously made by the kids and a big picture of me the day I graduated from college.

"I missed you soo much. You are never going to leave me again" Right now my sister was being very lovey dovey because we haven't seen each other in a while nonetheless the woman is a tall 5'11, serious by nature with very high goals and expectations for her job and life.

"I missed you too" my sister was my best friend and a person who I really admire.

"Mom! Daphne is playing with my phone and doesn't want to give it back" Mia appears out of nowhere chasing her sister Daphne around the house. These two girls were her daughters, one by blood, Daphne and another by marriage, Mia.

"Girls! No running at your grandparents house" Scarlett's husband Lorenzo comes out of the kitchen, cleaning his hands with a paper towel. He was also the father of the two ladies who were fighting. The story of their relationship is quite funny since he was the only man who succeeded at bringing down her tough girl barriers, to later on marry her and have one daughter. Mia was his thirteen year old daughter from a previous marriage that ended when his wife abandoned them.

"Dad!" Mia argues.

"I don't want to hear it. I am helping Irene cook" Did I mention he was a successful chef with his own restaurant in the city?

Daphne was still running but stops when she sees her father staring at her.

"Young lady I want you give your sister cellphone back and go watch TV with your cousins"

"No" she defies him.

"You are going to time out then" He attempts to grab her by the arm and like a switch Daphne pays attention to her father and gives the phone back to its rightful owner.

"Hey Bella!" Lorenzo turns on the familiar Italian magnetism that made Scarlett fall in love with him and gives me a big Italian hug.

"It's already chaos and you want more…" My sister crosses her arms as a statement towards him. The man has wanted another baby for a while now, however she was not going to give in so easily.

"I want to beat your brother" He confesses. "All of my ladies are chaos and I love it" and grabs her for a passionate kiss.

"Good luck convincing your wife Costas" My brother Adam chuckles and steals me for a hug. His wife Maya also takes advantage of the moment to say hi.

"When you're married to a social worker expect a lot of children" My sister responds. Adam and Maya have four children Blake, Kayla, Sadie and Avery. Two biological being the twins and two adopted which were my fifteen and sixteen year old Kayla and Blake.

"We are not done yet" Maya confesses but my brother couldn't be more opposed while shaking his head.

"Uhh yes we are. I am stitched up and we have more than enough" If they want more kids, they could surely have them since they are both 36 and still fisically capable.

"I love you" I say to Maya because she was my strong and bad ass woman that made husband work for her love. I coveted for that amazing dark skin and abundant naturally curled hair.

"I love you too and we did miss you a lot" she kisses my cheek.

"Nobody missed Bells more than I did!" The abrupt proclamation catches me off guard and it emanates from the hallway. My eyes did light up when the responsible appeared.

"Gavin!" It was my other brother Gavin who was late to the reunion but I didn't care.

"Sorry I'm late. The Maserati attracted a lot of women and who am I to tell them no" He places two bottles of wine on the table and jogs towards me to pick me up for a twirl salutation.

"Put me down!"

"I haven't seen my baby sister and I needed to carry you like I did when we were younger" Gavin looks just like Adam because they are identical twins which could explain the other pair of identical twins in the family.

It's like my brother knows that he is the ready to mingle twin living life in the fast lane and is not in a hurry to find love any time soon.

"Gavin! Put your sister down" That phrase probably came out of my dad's mouth more than a few times during our childhood and teen years.

"I'll put her down in exchange for food" Did I mention he can eat like there is no tomorrow?

"I want everyone to sit down and get settle for brunch" My mom comes out of the kitchen and it was the first time I was seeing her in a long time. This woman was the queen of the family and the owner of my dad's heart. "Were you ever going to say hi to the woman who gave birth to you? I should be the first person you would want to see Isabella" My mother was the extraordinary and tough to please Renee Greene, Chairman of Lyon Publications and the most honest person I know.

"Hi mom" We give each other a kiss and a hug. She isn't a deeply emotional person but seeing one of her children back was making her hold on to me for a little bit longer.

"Grandma! I'm starving here!" Blake was the first to disturb the moment, wrong choice buddy.

She slowly lets go of me and looks at him with a face that was her signature look in business and when she was upset. "Excuse me young man, I suggest you sit in your chair before I make you sit on the floor and eat with Shelby and Pepper".

"Save yourself from a impending beat down Blake and sit" Gavin whispers to him. "I know from experience"

My mom was referring to my siblings, her two cocker spaniels Shelby and Pepper as they are her pride and joy, even though her biological children think that their dad got them to get her off his back.

"Manja!" Lorenzo surfaces from the kitchen with a hot pot of Spanish paella on his glove covered hands.

"Mommy I want more clam!" Daphne shouts out for more fish. The good thing about having a professional chef brother in law with his own restaurant was that all of the kids had great pallets for different kinds of food. "Daphne…What have we told you about shouting at the dinner table. Daddy will serve you more after you finish your first plate" With spoons and forks tapping and people talking at the same time you could say that our family wasn't the quiet type.

"Tell us about your new job sweetheart. When do you start?" My dad inquires.

"I start on Monday and I am very excited to start. I love the MOMA and now I get the chance to be there every day" I grinned

"The MOMA is a wonderful place and a very prestigious museum in the art community. I am actually in talks with Oscar for their annual book launch" It was hard for me to get a job with people that my mom hasn't met. She is famous in New York City for knowing everyone.

"Who is Oscar?" Scarlett asks while taking a sip of her red wine that was exclusive for the adults while the kids had grape juice.

"He is chairman of the museum"

"Oh so he is Bella's boss" Gavin states

"No. I am an assistant curator to the chief curator for painting and sculptures. Her name is Didi Tolsky" I explain. "My job will consist in working with a small team to create projects with artists to deliver exhibitions and commission new paintings for the museum".

"Maybe you can help them their programme in the future" My dad added.

"That's one of my many goals and if everything goes well I won't be going anywhere for a while."

"Bella is not sure but I know that I won't be going anywhere any time soon" Gavin is comfortable working as an Intellectual property Lawyer at my dad's firm. In addition to it he also gets to work a lot with my mom's clients with their author rights.

"Don't press your luck boy" He warns him.

After brunch we were all full and as the boys went out with the kids to get some ice cream for their good behavior. The women stayed at home to drink another glass of wine and sit in the living room.

"How did Chicago treat you?" Maya asks me.

"It was nice and very similar to New York in some ways. I made a lot of friends and had a lot great experiences at work".

"How about Walter? Has he approach you again?" My mother did not waste time to bring up topics I didn't want to talk about.

"I don't want to talk about him mom"

"The kids aren't here and your father is at the office so we are going to talk about it right now Isabella" Ughh she can be so frustrating.

"We haven't been in contact since we broke up. I doubt he would want to see the woman whose dad made him lose his job and ruin his life."

"He did very illegal things and your father is a responsible lawyer who brings people to justice for their crimes"

"I am not critiquing dad's work ethics and I know that the evidence was there to be released but it's just weird because we now live in the same city and I would like for everyone to keep this to themselves because no one has found out about our relationship".

"I don't want him near you Isabella"

"Mom let it go already!" I shrieked

"Okay, this is getting out of hand and as a management analyst I think I need to intervene in this interaction" Scarlett was a fire ball herself but she knew very well how to simmer people down and solve problems.

"Fine…" She rolls her eyes and carries on. "Tomorrow is Sunday and I am going to host an event…"

"Mom I am not going" I immediately turn her down. "I just got back and I want to relax before I start my job on Monday"

"Let me finish Isabella!" Similar to Blake you know better than to interrupt the woman while she is talking.

"The publication is going to host an event for the board of directors of several hospitals in the city to talk about building libraries in their facilities for their patients and the visitors. I know your interest in charity work and your love for books…." I puff out as Scarlett and Maya laugh at my weakness.

"You are touching her sensitive bookworm bone mom" Scarlett states.

"That's why I am asking. We will be able to convince them to do the project in return for the donation of some books and create campaigns to recycle other books that otherwise would end up in the garbage"

"I don't really know what my job would entail at that event" Keep strong Isabella.

"You will be there to support the people who will benefit from this event and personally, you will be reintroduced into the city. We will have photographers there so you won't have as much paparazzi harassing you when you have your first day at work. Bella…You are the most sociable child I have and I need you to help me". Saying no to my mom would be saying no to the people who need the books to get through the tough days ahead of them.

"Just think…"

"I will be there" Strong Bella disappears.

"Good choice." She grins once again. "The event will start at 1 pm so I will have a car pick you up at 12 so you can be by my side for the final touches".

"Oh no… I refuse to be near you before the event. You act like a crazy woman and you are really mean sometimes"

"I am a perfectionist Isabella, everything I do requires it. If you want success you have to be firm with what you want. It's how I've gotten your father to agree with me for the past thirty years and it is also how I like to treat my children"

"Wow mom! Direct much" Scarlett comments.

"It's called honesty" She looks at her glass.

"I'll take a cab instead"

"Perfect. Time has caught up with us and I need you to do a couple of things for me" Another thing? You have to be kidding me. I have already agreed to be there and now she is pushing my buttons for more.

"You need to go to Sally's and have them fix your hair because image is a big factor and I need you to look like my daughter" Ouch that kind of hurt.

"We can have them color it and maybe cut some layers because right now it's too long" This is one of the down falls of having a mom who works with books and lifestyle magazines.

"And then we can go shopping for a new wardrobe and accessories for work and events. I don't know what you've been wearing in Chicago but…" I hope she is looking for a nice word.

"This is what I can afford and I won't have you buy me clothes. I am trying to live on my own without your comfort" I argue but she ignores me to go somewhere and come back with a piece of paper in hand.

"Good thing that your father is giving you this gift in honor of your new job and you will make him very upset if you turn it down" She hands it to me and I can see "Isabella Greene" and an amount of a hundred thousand dollars in fine print.

"No!" I cry. My parents have taught us to be independent but they didn't know how to stop spoiling their children, specifically me. I am already accustomed having money around and looking at it made me think of all the possibilities of things.

"Isabella, you will take this money and buy everything you want. In addition to this I will have some clothes and accessories delivered to you from the fashion magazines storage for you to pick".

"I am going to kill him" I say referring to my dad for doing this.

"That is why he left me to do the dirty job"

 **Edward Pov**

"Edward?"

I was busy looking outside my office when my assistant came in.

"We are going to start the meeting in fifteen minutes with our London offices to talk about some potential acquisitions".

"I'll be right there John" He quickly closes the door so I could relish the only moments of silence I had in the day and today was a very hectic day.

Ringgggg! Ringggg!

But of course nothing lasts forever as my office phone brings me back to earth. I pick it up. "Yes Nora?"

"I'm sorry to disturb you Mr. Smith but I have a man here to see you" She sounds misplaced.

"Why didn't you tell me Nora?" I was annoyed by her lack of notice.

"That is the problem sir, I can't find him in your schedule but he insists that you know him".

"What is his name?"

"He says his name is Owen Miller" At first I don't have any connection with his name but after almost a minute it all made sense. I do know him.

"Send him in Nora and excuse me for discrediting the effectiveness of your job. It won't happen again"

"Thank you Mr. Smith. I will send him right in" I hang up and stay in place until he knocks. I open the door and was greeted by a 5 foot 8 inch man with dark hair and dark eyes dressed in casual clothes with a very severe look on his face.

"Mr. Smith" he says

"I forgot about what you had told me in our first meeting" I answer honestly as we shake hands.

"No problem. Most of my clients forget about that aspect" The aspect that he was talking about was the fact that he had to change his name everywhere he went to avoid getting tracked or caught. The man that was now sitting across from my desk was a private investigator and one of the best in the country.

"I'm sorry for not calling ahead of time but I have all the information you need about the woman. It was relatively hard to get" He takes a second to pull a file out of his bag to slide it to me.

I lean back on my chair and open it out to learn about this mysterious Isabella Greene.

Full name: Isabella Jane Greene

Age: 25 years old

Height: 5'7

Education: University of Cambridge

Degree: Art History

Previous residence: Chicago, Illinois

Relationship status: Single

Current job: Assistant art curator at the Museam f Modern Art

"She is one of my difficult cases and since her father is a lawyer he knows how to keep his whole family under wraps and that includes her personal life" I look at him and then continue reading her the personal information about her family and friends.

"All of her roommates stayed in Chicago?" The initial information given to me by Walter was all lining up.

"No, she has a close friend called Vivian Phillips who got a job as a PR assistant for Louis Vuitton"

"Is there any way we can get in touch with her?"

"I suggest you don't mention this to her because the two of them are still really good friends. She comes from a well off family from Massachusetts and is now living with another roommate in Soho that her parents pay for".

"I am not surprise but it looks like she is very well educated and is private with her life. No wild parties or relationships" I pass the pages to find other information that will help back me up. "Do you have any pictures for me?"

"The only pictures I have of her are from the last time she was here in New York with her parents when she was still in high school and also with Vivian Philips in Colorado for a skiing trip" I stare at the pictures that are clipped in the back and see how she had grown into a woman. She was a chubby child before she left for college and now she was a tall (I think taller than what is written in her bio) with blonde hair and Botox enhanced lips, judging by the Colorado picture she had with Vivian who had he face covered with a mask.

"So there is no information about her relationship with Walter" I close the file and place it back on top of the desk.

"For that, you are going to have to talk with your friend. The good news is that since she is back the paparazzi is going to be everywhere talking pictures of her and I just got a confirmation from an inside source that her mother's company is having an event called 'Books For Cure' tomorrow afternoon in Battery City Park" My office phone rings again with Nora for my five minute warning about the meeting.

"You are a busy man Mr. Smith so I am going to leave" he stands up and fixes his suitcase.

"Thank you Mr. Miller. My assistant will be sending the money to your account in a couple of hours"

"It was a pleasure to meet you Mr. Smith" He places his sunglasses back on and heads out the door like an apparition.

"Smith…Knock knock is anybody home?" I heard a voice from the other side of my door.

"Come in…" I don't detour my eyes from the picture that was given to me by the illusive Owen Miller.

"We have a very important meeting in two minutes and people are asking me about the boss's whereabouts" The man in my office was my other hand Lincoln Vance, The Chief Operating Officer of the company.

"Why did Walter decide to waste his time and life on this woman who even isn't worth it?" I grimace while I take every inch of her physical appearance in for questioning.

"What woman?" He approaches me and takes the picture out of my hand to do his own examination. "She's beautiful plastic Barbie".

"That's the woman that turned Walter's life in pure misery"

"You are still going to go through with this stupid plan of yours?" He throws his head back in frustration. After my conversation with Walter last night I didn't waste time to hire the investigator and tell my plot to a person that I really trusted like Lincoln and Hunter.

"Once I make up my mind…"

"There is no turning back" He completes the phrase. "Which is good for business but it's not when you are planning to mess around with other people's lives" He walks around and drops on the couch. "Good thing Hunter isn't here because we both know that asshole would agree with everything you are saying"

"This woman ruined one of my best friend's lives because of greed and to win some credibility for her father in a case that they didn't have if it weren't for those papers that were tampered with. She almost ends up corrupting my business by implicating my name in the case. I mean just looking at her is making me upset" I throw the file back on the table. Lincoln is still holding the picture.

"You know I love Walter but isn't this dangerous territory you are about to enter without warning. What is your plan anyway? Get involved with her and what?"

"I am going to make her wish she had never met me. She is a very devious woman and I won't have her make a fool out of me like she did with Walter"

"Why fight other peoples battles Smith?"

"Because unfortunately my friend lost his sword in the fight and she tried to get mine as well" I answer defiantly.

 **Bella Pov**

My mom works fast. After taking time to be with my family and spending a good amount of time with them, she told me that Sally would be ready fo clock hair and color appointment. Good thing I called Vivian to see if she was available to talk and we agreed to meet up since she'd decide to get something done out of the blue as well.

"Belli" I hear her walk into the salon like she owned the place and greeting everyone in her path.

"Do I have to now make an appointment to see you?" I smile since she was so well known at least in the salon and we have barely been here.

"Chicago was my residence but New York is unquestionably my home. Is this the new look for spring?" She touches my foil covered hair. "Is Sally doing your hair?" She looks around.

"No. she is busy this week at Paris fashion week"

"I wanted her to fix this mop I have going on"

"This is her salon and it's filled with talented and worthy stylists to treat your mop" The thing about my best friend Vivian is that she can be very picky with every aspect of her.

"I don't know…"

"I suggest you make up your mind because you know that this place is with appointment" When I say that she stares at me.

"When have I needed an appointment Bella" She sits in the empty styling chair next to me. My hairstylist for the day comes back to check up on me.

"Are we good here?" I nod as she grabs a wooden stick to check on my hair that is wrapped in foil.

"I'll be back in a bout in an hour to rinse"

"Thank you Amy" She was about to walk off.

"Wait! Is anyone available for a last minute hair coloring and eyelash extension appointment? It's urgent"

"Of course Miss Phillips"

"And bring us some peanuts" She demands while looking at herself in the mirror. Amy of course leaves to attend her requests.

"Do you by any chance know the words, please and thank you?" Unlike Vivian I could never talk to anyone like that without feeling bad afterwards.

"It's their job to attend to you sweetheart. We are paying good money to have great service" I close my eyes and try to forget this exasperating moment I was having from her behavior.

"Don't be mad at me Belli. Hey! I should be the one upset with you!"

"And why is that?" I close the new Patricia Dempsey book I had robbed from my mother's house.

"I have been sitting here for the longest time and you didn't the box underneath my chair" I narrow my eyes towards where my feet were dangling and saw a Louis Vuitton box just sitting there casually.

"Vivian…" I didn't need this after what my parents had given me this afternoon.

"The people from the company sent me a whole bunch of things to congratulate me on the new job and I had to save something for you silly. You are one of my best friends and since we are moving on to greater things I wanted to show you how much I appreciate you. We are forever roommates" She bends down and passes it to me.

"I don't need this V" I open up the box and pull out a beautiful wallet. "Thank you" My head tilts towards her in gratitude.

"No problem lady. Now I know that we say each other less than two weeks ago but tell me everything"

"I'm good. You know that I'm living with Rachel in Brooklyn and I start work at the museum on Monday. Today I had brunch with my family at my parents' house"

"That's nice…"

"Rachel and I went out on Friday with Lisa for some dinner and we crashed at Lisa's place afterwards"

"You people are the worst for not inviting me"

"Stop asking for the pity card because you were unpacking in your new Soho apartment" She grins like the cat from Alice in Wonderland. "Was the view a two out of ten stars?" I joke around with her.

"Fine, I will forgive you this time but I am officially inviting the three of you to me and my roommate's housewarming party in a month after we get settled in"

"Deal; is your mom still in town?" I ask

"She left today actually with luggages and luggages filled with stuff. Good thing my dad sent a jet for her because she wouldn't have gone back with that many things.

"You two are extreme shoppers" I laugh.

"I shop hard and I am now the PR assistant for Louis Vuitton" She gets a text on her phone and gets distracted from our conversation. The peanuts arrive and after about an hour of reading, roles were switched where I was now getting my hair moisturized and blow dried while Vivian hair was in foil.

"Do you want to get some drinks after this? Cute guys guaranteed" She asks with eyes filled of night out brightness but at this point I would be out of this salon by 8 pm and my willingness to go would be out for the count.

"I'll pass. Tomorrow my mom is having an event and she wants me to go since no one else from the family would be there. Do you want to go?"

"ohhh la la what kind of event? Will there be cute boys?"

"There will be board of directors of the most important hospitals in the city for a project that my mom wants to do with them and lots of books that will be donated to the hospitals" You could tell by the expression on her face that she was bored by the idea. "And there will be a lot of fashionable women that you could network with and gain points with the company" Her face comes back to life with delight.

"What should I wear?" she teased

 **Edward Pov**

After a busy day at the office I got a call from my mother.

"Mother" I answer.

"It offends me that each time I ring, you answer as if I were a stranger"

"Mom I'm really tired right now and the only thing I want right now is to get home and get into bed. Why are you calling me so late?" It was 11 pm.

"I am calling to tell you that your father and I will be leaving for China on Monday so that means that you won't be able to reach us for a couple of weeks" she states

"Mom, I think I'll be fine on my on my own for a couple of weeks. You should be more worried about Emmett"

"I already talked your brother and sister and you are the person on my list. The man with no emotion for when he's mother leaves. I would at least expect a fit like your brother"

"Oh come on…He just get upset because you won't be able to watch his school bus of kids"

"Edward! Those kids are your niece and nephews" My mom treated those kids as if they were the perfect version of us and coincidently they are two boys and a girl.

"Mom I have to go, I'm almost home" I hear my dad in the background. She has me on speaker phone again.

"Honey at what time do we have to be there?" He asks and I am finding myself in the middle of another conversation with my parents at 11 pm on a Saturday night.

"The events starts at 1 but I would like to be there around 12:30 pm to have some extra time to chat with Mrs. Greene" The moment I heard that familiar last name leave her lips I'm instantly intrigued in the conversation.

"Mom what are you talking about?"

"Now you want to talk Edward but I need to go to sleep so since you don't want to wish your mother a good trip…"

"Mom I'll take you out for dinner when you come back…" I explain

"At Eleven Madison Park? You know I love their wine selection" She squeals in glee and interrupts my impending interrogation.

"Anything you want but tell me about this Mrs. Greene. What are you and dad talking about?"

"It's rude to keep tabs on someone else's conversation son" My dad decides to make an appearance on the crowded phone call.

"Then tell mom to not put me on speaker phone. Mom?"

"Carlisle, go brush your teeth while I talk to our son" I hear her shoo him away. "Edward Your father and I were invited to an event tomorrow afternoon to network and talk to Renee Greene about a potential project that would benefit many hospitals and their patients. Since your father is the president of the New York Presbyterian Hospital and I am in the medical field as well they want to meet with us and some other specialists" My dad is a former MD Cardiovascular Surgeon and my mom is a biochemist analyst.

"But you were talking about a Mrs. Greene?"

"Yes… Renee Greene will be hosting the event as Chairman of Lyon Publications. Her company came up with a fantastic idea to create libraries in the different medical centers around the city as a place for patients and family to escape into the world of literature. The event is called Books for Cure"

Now the question in my mind was would her daughter be there?

"Is this event exclusive?" I needed to be there.

"Of course Edward! This is an event is to possibly help patients through the struggles of their conditions and treatments"

"I want to be there"

"Why the sudden interest?" She gets instantly suspicious.

"Tomorrow is Sunday and I don't have to be at work. This event is for a very good cause and I would like to donate some money not only dad's hospital but to the others that will need the financially aid to make it happen" I was sincere about the cause. I just had other motives to be there that she didn't need to know about that part.

"Oh sweetheart! I will make it happen" Her glee is back on track as if nothing had happen. "I have to leave because your father and I need to go to sleep. Make sure to bring your checkbook because if I am getting you in it's because of your interest in making a very sizable donation"

"The money will be worth it". I reply

 **Infinitely worth it.**

 **Bella Pov**

"At what time do you have to pick up the princess?" Rachel asks me while I am walking around the apartment looking for my cellphone to leave for my mother's event.

"We are going separately. She wants to get her nails done before getting there so she'll get there a little later"

"Ha-ha what a surprise! Vivian can't let people see her disgraceful nails"

"Don't you think you are sometimes harsh on her? She is our best friend" Vivian was part of our group back in high school but she was also part of the popular click.

"We are best friends but being her friend means that I have to sometime bring her back to earth. The girl thinks that the world revolves around her when it doesn't" She says while taking a bit of her freshly made Italian sandwich. It was actually making me hungry.

"Where is my cellphone?" I go check my room again.

"You look very nice today… Maybe you will find some hot doctors and the two of you could read some books together"

"I'm going for my mother and I don't have time for any romance right now. I start my job tomorrow and I am going to strive to be the best at it" I look at myself in the mirror. I was wearing a beautiful yellow lace cocktail dress with some winged heels, some gold accessories and pink tone makeup for my eyeliner drawn eyes and blush pink matte lipstick. My mom was really serious about my hair so after a salon visit it looked healthy with chocolate tones and the length was still long but layers for movement.

"Your mom went all out with your wardrobe" She comments, looking at all the hanger of clothes placed around our small apartment and all of it consisting in designer clothes, shoes, handbags and anything expensive. The shoes that I was wearing were almost two thousand for crying out loud.

"Half of it is yours and she ended up sending Lisa some things as well" I argue

"I know and I will send her a beautiful stripper to her office as a thank you note. Now I can go to my lunch date looking fierce as fuck" She puckers her lips.

"You have to tell me all about it when I come back" I finally find my phone in the most obvious place, my clutch.

"It's a tinder date babe" She reiterates.

"Bye" I laugh, grabbing my clutch and closing the door behind me.

To avoid paparazzi I tell the taxi man to leave me in the back alley of where the event was going to take place and walk inside with ease.

"Bella!" I enter the space and one of my mother's coworkers Leona approaches me since I haven't seen her in a while.

"Hi!" I embrace her.

"How are you sweetheart? We missed you a lot!" Leona was one the nicest people alive. She was the one to balance my mom out when needed.

"I missed you too! You and mom did an amazing job. I hope we can get the project going"

"We hope so too. I think we will have a good time and as well as great media coverage"

The place was beautifully set up in with bare white tables and chairs and pops of colors like blue and red for the tableware and giant yellow centerpieces that went well with the even larger building windows. The music was playing and last touches were being fixed.

"Where is my mom?"

"She is with Fred, some books weren't delivered so…"

"Poor Fred" I said referring to my mother's wrath.

"As president he is well aware of your mother's taste for perfection and he loves it because it brings in the money"

"Is it going to start soon?"

"We have about a 130 people from the health sector here in about fifteen minutes so be prepared because many of them will want to meet your mother and you can talk to them about your new job at the museum. You were always destined to make a splatter" I laugh at her art joke.

"Now do you want to sit down or look around?" She asks

"My mom will kill me if she sees me sitting down. I'm going to see all of the stimulating books you guys brought. You know how much I love them"

"Your mother already told me that she had to bribe you with them to make you come like when she did to make you go to her office after school"

"It works each time"

"She wanted you to follow her footsteps into the publishing world"

"Really? I didn't get the hint" I answer sarcastically.

""I am no bird and no net ensnares me. I am a free human being with an independent will"  
I hear a man's voice quote from one of my favorite authors Charlotte Brontë. I am curious to turn around to see this Jane Eyre fanatic.

"Grant!" The pure delight in seeing this man makes me go straight into his arms.

"Hi" He says wearing that great smile that was so characteristic of him since we were kids.

"Hi" I reply

"I am going to get your mother" Leona leaves us to our must needed conversation.

"I'm mad at you" I cross my arms.

"Why is that?"

"Because you didn't call me or even tell me you were going to be here"

"I wanted to surprise you" He leans in to kiss me on the cheek. "Trust me. I think no one has missed you more than I did"

"I'm so glad that you're here" He grabs my arm to interlock it with his and leads me to the closest table.

"I don't know why you're so surprised; our parents have been working together for almost twenty years"

"I know I know…It's just…" I try to convey my thoughts.

"You still look as beautiful as ever" His eyes stare at me as if he were taking in a captivating painting.

"Your sweetness is highly cherished and your looks have gotten even more irresistible for women, I mean where is she?" I allude. For many women Grant is the perfect man. A six foot tall male with an athletic built, butterscotch hair and a face that was constructed in unruly straight eyebrows, high cheekbones and narrow lips that open to a perfect set of teeth.

"My perfect partner in life is an intelligent and youthful, stunning 5'7 woman with a beautiful face and body and two exotic eyes that spontaneously match her last name"

"You'll find here and when you do I want an invite to the wedding" It is amusing for him to take me as reference.

"Bella!" I hear something call me and feel like my name is being thrown around freely.

"Hi" I immediately stand up to greet my mother who looked very ready for an afternoon affair wearing a color block outfit, yellow heels and accessories, her hair was pin straight and wearing her signature sunglasses to disguise emotion.

"Hi sweetheart" She kisses Grant and examines his outfit. "Handsome indeed. Is it Tom Ford?" He nods as she checks out the material of suit.

"You are a very observant Renee" Grant was like another son to my mother and being the son of her close business partner Albert.

"Have you two catched up?" She asks

"Not enough, therefore I think dinner will be in our schedules so I can furthermore interrogate Bella about her life living in Chicago. I'm going to make it hard for anyone to steal her from me" I feel his hands tighten around my waist.

"Make sure to tell me everything because this girl is very hard to crack similarly to her mother" She seizes us both and grins. Having those glasses covering her eyes it's hard for me to decipher her inner thoughts.

"Excuse me…Renee we have a problem with the book delivery. The truck is lost again in traffic"

The thing I knew well about my mother is that when she pushes her lips together into a tight line whatever is to come from her mouth is not good. Finally after waiting for what felt like an eternity she pulls out her cellphone to make ranting phone call and when that happens her voice will become the one of a sailor, extremely abrasive and sharp.

"It's time for you two to interact with guests so move along" She struts alongside her assistant.

"I love her so much" Grants can't help but chuckles at the scene that just took place.

"She is a special gal and you don't want to mess with her"

"You heard your mother. We need to be sociable but I'm going to be rebellious and make sure you are fed and with a glass of champagne in your hand before we head into the fire" He pulls on my hands towards the hors d'oeurves.

The event was already filled by the time it started. Doctors were early birds and very responsible with their invitations. I guess they have to be when they are saving lives every single day of the single and life does not postpone emergencies in order for you to have an eight hour sleep.

"I think having reading spaces and books in your installations will make adults and children alike have a moment where they don't have to think about their sickness or treatments. Books become an experience into the life of other people".

"Which is exactly what we want, we want our patients to feel like their home and in a safe environment where hope is the last thing that perishes"

"And it will have that effect doctor Lauren. I am very proud of my mother's cooperation with you and hopefully the idea will rub off on the other medical centers in the country".

"Your mother must be clearly proud of you for having this sensibility towards the people who need help in this city"

"It's very important…I have always work with nonpro…"

"I'm here!" Vivian strides right into the conversation without a care in the world.

"I'm sorry Doctor" I give him an apologetic smile.

"No worries Bella. You and your mother are much solicited so I'll leave you and hope to talk to you more during the event" He takes his glass of champagne and walks away.

"Absolutely" I bit my lip in embarrassment.

"What a serious old man" She drinks from her glass.

"It's a serious event Viv"

"I'm here for you and the books Bella so don't be ungrateful. I already said hi to your mother and I bumped into your friend Grant who looks very delicious"

"Vivian…"

"I am wearing a low cut Victoria Beckham dress that shows a good portion of my body and he still only has eyes for you" This was a corporate event and she came wearing a tight cleavage baring fuchsia dress, with pink accessories and Christian Louboutin

"He's one of my best friend's"

"If you don't want I will gladly step in for you. What does he do for a living?"

"He works in real estate"

"So he has money?" I roll my eyes at her inappropriate inquiry.

"If well off is what you meant than yes. He has a good job it lets him live a great life"

"Interesting…" She sits down at the table right next to where I was standing and checks out the crowd.

"You are going to sit down"

"Of course not, I am scouting on the women so I can start my networking. Louis Vuitton needs new clients" She says, taking a little mirror out of her clutch and fixing her lipstick. "Don't you love my eyes!" She wiggles her fingers. "They are coffin shaped and I'm ready to be a vampiress".

As she gets lost into her nails I decide to get something to eat since the tiny hor d'oeurves weren't covering it.

 **Edward Pov**

"Is there any way I can get you to turn your back on this absolutely insane and very senseless plan"

"I already have my suit on and the car is already waiting for me" I whisper while fixing my tie in the bathroom.

"Why are whispering?"

"Because I have someone here at the moment and she is still sleeping" I look at the naked model that was still in a deep sleep in my bed. It was a good night.

"You are about to seduce this innocent girl knowing that you just fucked a girl the night before.

"She's not innocent Lincoln. The woman is a fucking traitor"

"Edward you weren't a witness, lawyer or judge in the trial. What if she's innocent?"

"I have Walter's word and right now he is in a bad space. I finally convinced him to go to California for a while to seek treatment and escape from all of the shit happening"

"Did you tell him about your 'brilliant' idea?"

 _Yesterday afternoon_

" _I am going to fucking shot myself Smith" I hear a conflicted Walter call me from his apartment._

" _You are not going to kill yourself. What you need is to fleed the city for awhile_

" _What the fuck am I supposed to do? I don't have a job and my reputation is a piece of shit right now. Did you the New Times Today? Not so technologically savvy were the title and a picture of my shitty face coming out of court"._

" _I have already talked to your publicist and your assistant and they will do some damage control. As for a job, you don't even put a fucking thought on that because you will be working with me. You are a very smart man and we will work together here at the company since I have new projects coming up. Right now I need you to get some help because if you don't do it than I won't be able to help you get you back on you're A game". I hear him breath out._

" _Don't make this difficult man, I have a plan to rebuild your character" I finally confess to him._

" _What do you mean?" His voice sounds hoarse._

" _I am going to seduce Greene's daughter to get the information which was supposedly used in your trial and prove that the Greene's were the ones who forged the papers to make you seem guilty. I also want to make that woman feel the same pain she made you feel"_

" _Dude I don't want you to get involved with that fucking family. You don't know what they are capable of"_

" _That's unfortunate because I already hired a private investigator and he got some information about her, and since I already know with what kind of shit I'm dealing with than it's going to be easier for me to bring them to their knees"_

" _I really value what you are doing man" When I hear his voice crack it almost gets to me, a fellow guy that has worked his ass off to get to this point in life. Sacrifice time and money to lose it all because of a greedy woman who wanted to hurt people and be the typical rich daddy's girl._

" _This is for the both of us and since my name is somewhat involved in the case. I want it all to be cleaned out even if it's in the papers as anonymous and that bastard doesn't know"_

" _Do you need help with anything?"_

" _I need you to go to California to a treatment for a month so you can come back and we can continue with the plan with what you know. For the time being, no one can know that we are friends or even acquaintances"._

" _Be careful Ed"_

" _She's just a woman and judging by her picture she looks very easy to please. Women like her always need their fix and I'm glad to be a medium in order to get what I want"_

" _I think you are blind and crazy for thinking that way. You haven't even met her yet but I'll leave you to find out for yourself" He chuckles for the first time in months._

" _Medusa has a good disguise but I have an even better one to show her"_

 _Back to the present_

"How can you lead your criteria to Walter when he is clearly in a bad space right now?"

"Lincoln I don't need your fucking permission or approval. Walter is in a wellness center on the other side of the country right now and when he comes I want to be able to bring him back on his feet. Everything is so fucking difficult for you" I put on my watch and check myself one last time before I head out.

"I will support you but count me there when this bites you in the ass. Now changing subjects, who is going to wake up the girl you have in your apartment".

"She can stay. I have no reservations in leaving her here. The apartment is equipped with cameras everywhere and it's not the first time I do this. If she is still here by the time I come back even better because last night left me very satisfied and it wouldn't hurt to repeat the experience"".

"What does she look like?"

"Like every kind of model in New York City" I tread out of the bathroom not worrying if I wake her to get my suit jacket that lies on my chair.

I arrive at the event and proceeded to go right into the building, ignoring the mas of paparazzi that were crowding around the entrance and since it wasn't really known that I was going to be here, some of them running from their cars to get a picture.

From the moment I enter the space where the event was taking place a woman approaches me.

"Welcome to 'Books for cure' I am Leona Skyler "

"Hi Leona I'm Edward Smith. I am here to support the wonderful cause and donate to the project"

"Excellent. Would you like to put the donation to your name?"

"I would like to place the donation in Carlisle and Esme Smith name from the New York Presbyterian Hospital"

"Follow me please so we can add the donation" She strolls to a large table with books and asks me to sign a piece of paper with my name and the amount I am willing to donate which is three hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

"This money will be put in good use and we thank you and your family again for the donation Mr. Smith. Enjoy the event"

"Thank you" I scout the room to find my target.

"It's so nice for you to look for us sweetheart" I get caught off guard by my mom.

"Hi mother" I kiss her and shake my dad's hand.

"So formal"

"That's your title in my life so it's either that or Esme"

"Did you make the donation?" she totally ignores my comment. "How much?"

"Three hundred fifty thousand"

"You could do a little bit better next time" Sometimes I think she wants me to spend my fortune on charities of her choice.

"Good thing I put it to the family name and the hospital" I say mordantly since I'm three hundred thousand dollar short and with no credit to my name. "How is the event going?" I ask.

"Such a good project, your father and I are very excited to have this in the hospital someday"

"Mrs. Greene is a tremendous woman and very well cultivated in her craft" My dad states.

"Absolutely and her daughter is such a gorgeous girl. Well educated and sophisticated" she gushes about the woman that I had the intention to run into.

"You've already met her" I shove my hands into my pant pockets and press my eyebrows together.

"She is hard to miss and came to us first. You should talk to her; she is sociable and has no problem mingling with everyone here".

"I'm sure" I tense up since her social abilities must be premium, especially with men.

"There are lots of people so drink a glass of champagne and have a discussion. Try not to get lost because these are the last moments for us to be together before China" she runs her hand on my cheek.

"I'm 6 foot 5. It's more plausible for me to lose you first"

Upon leaving my parents with her other well-known doctor friends. My mind was far from anything than on the incentive in finding Isabella Greene. My glass of premium champagne was half way empty and I still couldn't get my eyes on her with the amount music, conversations, laughter and even dancing going on.

Curiously enough I did notice a couple looking at some books that were on display in two relatively large bookshelves filled with some of the books and publications that will be distributed. Right next to them stood another woman with her back towards me; she looked about 5'6 and tip toeing on her heels to get a book that was placed two feet above her head. It looked like she was struggling, firm with her choice in literature.

Her continuous incisively were causing all the books to shift more and more towards the edge, threatening to fall and right before I could discern some more the books start tumbling to the ground. Prompting my gross for action to take her in my arms and pull her away from the book avalanche.

This was my chance to see her face and it did not disappoint, on the other hand, she was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Her widened eyes showing me blue of the ocean, fair porcelain skin that felt like silk beneath my fingers as I hold her cloth free back along with rosy cheeks and plump lips, and a body that would leave men forever hypnotized by her hourglass curves that held her ample breast that were begging to be touched. She was captivating.

"Good thing it wasn't the whole shelve" I joke while lifting her up.

"I'm willing to do anything for Monte Cristo" She lifts up the classis Count of Monte Cristo. "Thank you for avoiding a disaster and having my story being told in the dumbest ways to die. Death by books" Her voice is melodious and gentle, giving me a case of death by erection.

"I think a slight concussion would have been the only symptom" My fingers push a loose piece of her long and luminous chocolate hair behind her ear.

"Are you a doctor by any chance?" She giggles. Now that we were both in a vertical position my eyes trail and take my time to appreciate the work of art that she is in her yellow lace dress that very tastfully showed off her long legs. I could just imagine those

"What are the odds that the person who saved you in a room filled with them is not a one"

"Oh really? Are you here without an invitation?" she is teasing me in more ways than she knows.

"My parents are doctors"

"Then in that case thank you for coming Mr…"

"Smith, Edward Smith" I take advantage of the introduction to kiss her soft right hand.

"So if you are not a doctor, what job did you choose to disappoint your parents?"

"You are filled with questions and since I've given you my name I want yours, so we are no longer strangers" I needed her name and everything else that comes with it.

"I'm…"

"Sweetheart Are you okay?!" Another man appears out of nowhere and by the look on his face he wasn't happy to see me.

"Grant I'm fine" She still has here book in her hand but it's hastily taken away. I don't care by the fucker's attitude with me but he seems very comfortable with her.

"Your mom has been looking for you. She asked me to bring you to her" He grabs her by the waist and pulls her away from me. "Are you sure you're fine?"

"Calm done, I am fine. I'll follow you but let me introduce you to Edward Smith who is the man that saved me from a slight concussion" she winks

"Nice to meet you" We shake hands. "What are the chances...You…were keeping an eye on her" He notices with an unsurprising hostile tone.

"She shouldn't have been left alone" I counterattack.

"Let's go Bella…" He kisses her forehead and increases the distance between us.

"I'll see you later Mr. Smith" She grins and turns away.

He was probably her boyfriend and even though she is a woman that I would want. I couldn't detour my focus, the reason why I'm here.

"Are you Edward Smith? The hero that just saved my best friend" Someone taps my shoulder and when I check to see. It was the woman I have been looking for, the one and only Isabella Jane Greene. A copy from the picture of her in Colorado, she had the same blonde hair in a pony, a tight fuchsia dress on with pink heels and a glass of champagne in hand, undoubtedly her third one in fifteen minutes by the vigor in her voice.

"Yes I am" I turn on the charm. "And you are gorgeous" I kiss her hand and even though it was soft it didn't have the same effect on me as it did with…with…ugh…the woman I saved and whose name I don't know thanks to prick Grant.

"Are you flirting with me?" she tilts her head to the side to shed some light on neck and cleavage.

"I like inimitable women"

"Have we've met before Mr. Smith?"

"No, however I do know your name just how you know mine" I don't let go of her hand and kiss it again.

"So we can skip the introduction and sit down to talk"

"Whatever you want, I am slave to your commands" We retreat to unoccupied seats and start talking. Right from the start you can tell that she has a loose tongue on her.

"Your parents are doctors. How interesting?"

"Yes…To be honest with you. I wanted to come and support the project but I also came because I wanted to meet you"

"My friends have told me deeply thought-provoking stories about you"

"Positive stories?"

"Let's leave them at fascinating with very descriptive narratives" She alludes which is upsetting that the women I've been with have been going around talking about me. "I think they are wrong. Your life should be private and for your experience only"

"Exactly!" I respond.

We keep on talking for twenty and without the other beautiful woman in sight. I have enough information to begin analyzing and what I thought would be so obvious turned out to be harder than I thought because she even though she looks were those of every gold-digger in the world. Her attitude was awfully humble and nice. She even got up to help a woman who had spilt a drink on her dress, accompanying her to the bathroom.

"Nothing that some water and soap can do" Our conversation continues until we landed in present-day news topics and I decide to bring up Walter.

"I consider the main situation in my field is what is happening in companies and lawsuits that are capable of destroying people's character"

"I can imagine"

"I'm sorry to bring this up but the W&R Enterprise case was a sad incident" She nods without giving me any information. "Walter Taylor was a good businessman though I guess he fell into a bad place in life that cost him his company" still no reaction. "I'm sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable" She half smiles. "I'm fine talking about it but out of respect for my best friends family I choose to put it in the past since it's already done and finished with" I hear her mention about her best friends family but she maybe switched words by accident.

"I know your father was a lawyer on the case so I don't want to pry"

"My father is part of the Phillips oil industry so I doubt he acted as a lawyer by night" She says and I'm taken aback.

"No…I mean isn't your father Charlie Greene from the Greene law firm"

"Ugh no…You are talking about my best friend's father. Her name is Isabella Greene"

"Mr. Smith! I'm offended that you didn't come to see after donating such a large amount of money to our project. I wanted to thank you personally on behalf of Lyon Publications. I see that you have met Vivian Phillips" She takes me by the shoulders and closes in for a kiss on the cheek.

"Wow Edward I didn't know you did that" She looks at me then back at Renee "Mrs. Greene, he has been very modest about it too which is another quality to esteem" She wraps her hands around my arms like a snake.

"It's very nice to meet you…Mrs. Greene" I am not able to find any other words than those of confusion, if she isn't Isabella. Who is she?

"I was just talking to my daughter about you and she told me that she had met you earlier. A hero since you saved her from a potential book slide in her words".

I saved her? Was she speaking of the beautiful woman in the yellow lace dress?

"Edward I see you've met Vivian" And like an angel she appears out of nowhere with asshole Grant by her side like the plague. "I was surprise to hear from my mom that you donated to the project but then again you did save my life in a very selfless act" Her smile had to one of the prettiest.

"I was so rude earlier. You asked me for my name and I didn't get the chance to tell you" She walks over and places the same hand I just kissed and felt a tantalizing feeling in front of her "I am Isabella Greene"

And right there the woman I felt such an attraction too ended up being the same woman I was supposed to terminate.

 **" _The hardest feeling, what I know vs. what I feel" Anonymous_**

* * *

 **Edward has mixed up his heart with his mind.**

 **What will happen now that he knows who the real Isabella Greene is?**

 **Will he still go through with the plan or throw it in the fire for a chance to be with bella?**

 **Vivian behavior during her conversation with Edward was very suspicious. Does she know more than what anyone is seeing?**

 **Next chapter will answer these questions and have Bella's point of view of her encounter with Edward. Thank you so much for reading. Sorry for the tardiness and I hope you have a great week. Be tuned for chapter three which will be uploaded next weekend.**

 **Make sure to leave your reviews and suggestions.**

 **I love you all :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: I don't own Twilight or the characters :)**

 **Hey guys! We are three chapters deep. I want to make a shout out to those of you who have added the story to their favorites or following: Intsu1, eeyorelovertwilight101, kat198424** , **SunflowerFran, cheshire15, eduber, kneon, payalchristina309 and sujari6. Thanks to each and every one of you.**

 **Don't forget to check out all the pictures of this chapter at the official blog which is posted on my profile.**

 **Please do not disturb**

 **Reading ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

 **Misconception is a constant**

 **Bella Pov**

Once I had some substantial food in my stomach. I decided to talk to some more guests and I actually met Esme and Carlisle Smith, a pair of well-respected specialists and one of the most philanthropic couples in New York placing their time and money for the betterment of the city. You could say that I covered 90 per cent of the people here and I enjoyed each of every conversation.

Now I was walking on my own and noticed two huge bookshelves filled with what else but books and I was instantly hooked on getting my eyes and hands on them or at least until my mom gives me that notorious glare for not interacting with the guests. The bookshelves were pretty tall, acting as centerpieces for the décor. Let's take a glimpse at what we have here.

I always give my mom a hard time for trying to get me to work with her in the publication world but I was am so thankful of her for being able to give me the chance to develop a tremendous love for literature in their various forms. My eyes travel from one book to the next until they land on one of my favorites that I had to get and it was two feet above my head. The only thing I thought was 'challenge accepted'.

This heels were pretty tall so with the add height I got my fingers to touch the book frame and tease it come to me.

"Yes…" I whisper to the book as if it was alive and I was coaxing it to loosen. As I was talking to myself what I didn't realize is that the other books around it were shifting and not in a good way. Great, these books were going to end up on top of me and I would have strange glances from everyone here at my stupid attempt when I could of just ask someone taller than me to grab the book, end of story.

One book falls…another one follows and then a trend starts, leaving me trapped in the middle. My stubbornness didn't want to let of the book in return of my own safety however I was suddenly I felt myself being removed from the disaster in what felt like a swift movement.

My face was fronting the scene of the crime but my body felt like it was floating since someone was obviously holding me in place. When I look to see my savior I was caught off guard by an uninspected feeling.

It was a man I have never seen before, a very handsome man with an oblong face that consisted in emerald green eyes, straight nose, cupid bow full lips and a thick jaw that acted as a preview for his very tall and muscular and solid physique. A head full of light brown hair and a five o clock shadow beard that made him look very mature and serious.

"Good thing it wasn't the whole shelve" He says in a low pitch velvet tone of voice and helps me back on my feet.

"I'm willing to do anything for Monte Cristo" I lift up the book I almost got hurt by, the Count of Monte Cristo. "Thank you for avoiding a disaster and having my story being told in the dumbest ways to die. Death by books" He grins at my response.

"I think a slight concussion would have been the only symptom" Oh…He is a doctor. A very attractive doctor, using his physician hands to push my hair behind my ear.

"Are you a doctor by any chance?" I ask; prompting a giggle from my own stupidity since this was an event targeted at practitioners.

"What are the odds that the person who saved you in a room filled with them is not a one" He answers

"Oh really? Are you here without an invitation?" I cross my arms in a playful manner.

"My parents are doctors"

"Then in that case thank you for coming Mr…" I wanted to know his name.

"Smith, Edward Smith" He kisses my hand and I melt inside, I wonder if by any chance he is related to Carlisle and Esme Smith. The couple I had met a half an hour before.

"So if you are not a doctor, what job did you choose to disappoint your parents?" He narrow his eyes and chuckles.

"You are filled with questions and since I've given you my name I want yours, so we are no longer strangers" My god Bella you are so into him. You've been talking to him for the past five minutes and you haven't even properly introduced yourself.

"I'm…" I immediately say, though before I could get the whole sentence out Grant jumps in with a worried look on his face.

"Sweetheart Are you okay?!" He puts his hands on my face and hands to check for any injury. He was sweet for worrying about me but I didn't want this to be a big thing. "Grant I'm fine" I respond and try to get my body parts away from his thorough inspection. I breathe out in inadequacy as he takes my book and places it on a near surface.

"Your mom has been looking for you. She asked me to bring you to her" He grabs to grab me by the waist again. ""Are you sure you're fine?" He reiterates. Now he was getting annoying about something that didn't need the attention.

"Calm done, I am fine. I'll follow you but let me introduce you to Edward Smith who is the man that saved me from a slight concussion" I turn my head back to Edward who was still standing there staring at me and I couldn't help but wink at him. A little bit of flirtation never hurt anyone.

Grant pauses for a second and concedes into my wishes by placing his hand in front for a friendly shake. "Nice to meet you" although I notice he wasn't happy to do it. "What are the chances...You…were keeping an eye on her" What is this attitude all about?

"She shouldn't have been left alone" Edward says winking back at me leaving his hands in his pockets.

"Let's go Bella…" Grant kisses my forehead and starts walking away dragging me with him.

"I'll see you later Mr. Smith" I didn't want Edward to feel Grant's poor approach so I make sure to give him a big smile to which I am gifted with one in return.

"I think we should have a medic look at you. This room in filled with them and I won't feel better until someone has checked you"

"Grant…This isn't about me. I already told you that I feel fine. You need to relax and I have to tell you that your behavior back there was unacceptable" I separate myself from his to sit down in hopes that my mother will find us.

"What are you talking about?" he is surprised by my hostility.

"You were rude to Mr. Smith when you should have been thankful to him that he got me out of that situation"

"I was just worried about you Bella. I didn't know I came off like that. You are first in my mind and I could care less what he thinks about me" he sneers.

"I beg to differ. It almost looked like you didn't like him at all" Grant was nice man and for him to be so unreceptive to someone else was a first for me.

"I've read about him Bella, that's all. He is an arrogant business man who thinks he is the shit and when I saw him with you I got angry. There have been many articles and rumors about him and his antics with women…"

"Grant it was my first time meeting him and you totally embarrassed me as my friend. I don't need you to save me from him"

"You don't want me to save you but you want him to do it instead…huh? Do you like him Isabella?" He says with his eyes darted at me.

"Excuse me…" I stood up making him back up. "You are not my boyfriend Grant, you are my best friend and whether or not I like him is none of business. I just met him and he was a total gentleman so stop it"

"Bella…" He tries to take my hand but I tug away.

"No Grant" I put on my poker face. "This is not the moment…" Before I could put him in his place my mother zeros in on us along with Grant's father.

"Where were you Isabella? Leona told me that you were almost crushed by books?" Why is everyone exaggerating what really happened?

"I was trying to grab a book but I am fine mom" I reassure and gaze at Grants dad "Hi Mr. Butler" I move in for a hug and a kiss. "The always splendid Isabella" He was such a pleasant individual, an older version of Grant and much calmer might I add.

"Good thing nothing happened to you because Leona told me that Edward Smith was here and he donated three hundred and fifty thousand dollars to the project"

"Mr. Smith…" Grant started to say but I was quick to answer.

"I met him earlier; he was actually the one who saved me" I add "He was very nice and avoided me a potential headache" I smile and look directly at Grant whose jaw twitches.

"I didn't know he was here. I did talk to his parents Carlisle and Esme Smith, very lovely people" She says while scanning the room. "I'm gonna extend my gratitude to him. He is an incredibly successful man and for him to be here will serve well for the newspapers tomorrow"

"I'll accompany you there" I look at grant that couldn't be more wounded. He will get over it. I knew how to protect myself even if he were like the man, described in those gossip magazines. My mom was the first to spot him making her way towards him and as I was getting closer I saw him talking to Vivian. It was funny seeing his reaction to my mother because he almost looked bewildered.

"Edward I see you've met Vivian" I chimed, adding myself to the conversation. "I was surprise to hear from my mom that you donated to the project but then again you did save my life in a very selfless act" He was hesitant to respond but since I didn't get to introduced myself properly earlier I wanted to take this chance to do it.

"I was so rude earlier. You asked me for my name and I didn't get the chance to tell you" I extend my hand that he kissed. "I am Isabella Greene"

Upon my introduction I saw his eyes widened and his expression hardened. I guess I should have told him my name earlier because he looked almost upset but his face was quick to change into a half smile.

"So you are Isabella Greene" Unlike our first encounter his hand tightened around my hand and I felt the electricity run between us.

"Yes, and you are Carlisle and Esme's son Edward Smith" I smile. "We both learned something new today"

"We sure did" he replies.

 **Edward Pov**

Now that I knew who was the real Isabella Greene. This situation got more complex by the initial feeling I got when I first met her. I mixed up the two girls in the picture given to me by the private investigator. I was focused on the wrong one.

"I think I just embarrassed myself because I thought Ms. Phillips was you Isabella"

"Don't worry Mr. Smith, We are almost like sisters. Aren't we?" She tells Bella who just beams. In my mind they couldn't be more different.

"Vivian is my best friend and if anyone is embarrassed it is me for not telling you my name previously to avoid this confusion" She says as her pale cheeks turn red.

"Don't be, I should have been more insistent because I was actually telling Vivian that I had wanted to meet you" I look at Vivian. "Meeting you was treat all to itself"

"I could say the same thing to you Edward" She smiles, killing the effect it has on me since Bella's was ten times more effective.

"As for you Mrs. Greene, I thank you for receiving me to this event without an invitation. I had a great time and really got to see the positive things you are trying to do with your company. I'm sure that they money I donated will be put to good use and many patients will love the books just as much as your daughter does" I stare at Bella and she does the same, depositing the both of us in our own world but I knew that my feelings couldn't get tangled with her. "I have to leave so thank you again Mrs. Renee and be sure that you'll be seeing more of me in the near future" I give them a big smirk.

"Thank you Mr. Smith" I get a kiss and a hug from Renee again.

"Bye Edward" Bella puts her hand out again and rather than a shake I give her another gentle kiss. "Bye Isabella"

I walk away from them, say my goodbyes to my parents and head outside to the waiting car that would take me back to my apartment.

 _The next day…_

I get to the office after an eventful day yesterday upon discovering who the real Isabella Greene was. With Vivian I was satisfied with only one picture of her but with Bella an obsession was born and I spent the rest of my Sunday night looking for anything in reference to her. The only new pictures were her were the ones taken at the event yesterday and I ended up printing each of every one of them, staring at them and her exquisite face and body.

"How is my vengeful boss this morning?" Lincoln doesn't waste time to bust my balls.

"Fuck off" I lean back on my chair still looking at a picture of Bella with her mother.

"Why the grumpy face? Didn't you meet the illusive Isabella Greene yesterday" The fucker was beaming since he knew by the newspapers headlines what could have happened to me. "Wait…Am I talking to Edward Smith or did I mistake him for someone else"

"Very funny…"

"It's not only funny. I find it fucking hilarious that you couldn't even decipher who was the real Isabella" He sits down in front of me with the newspaper in hand. "Now you have to explain to me what exactly happened to you yesterday because this girl…" He faces the cover of the newspaper towards me. "Does not look like the blonde woman you were gushing about on Saturday"

"It's because it wasn't her. I accidently made the misconception that the blonde one of the picture was Isabella Greene since the other one was covered up in snow gear"

"First rookie mistake" He shakes his head. "How did it go down yesterday?"

I explain the whole story to him to which he starts laughing.

"Let me see if I understood. You were looking for Isabella and ended up saving a woman and having a heavily flirtatious conversation with her without knowing that you were talking to her the whole time"

"She didn't fucking tell her name because her boyfriend that I didn't know she had entered the picture"

"And so the other woman was Vivian Phillips"

"Yes…" I respond.

"You ended up more attracted with the real Isabella Greene than of the fake one"

"What do you think?" I indicate my head towards the pictures I was staring at.

"You don't have to tell me. When I picked up todays paper and saw the picture with her mother I thought that she was absolutely gorgeous, I mean you can't be surprised that she has a boyfriend waiting for her at home every night. I would keep her in a chastity belt"

"Trust me. I had more than one thing I wanted to do with her in my mind before he was even near us. Now I have to admit to Walter that he was right about her" I place my hands over my face and I didn't want to tell Lincoln that I had dreamt about her last night, naked on my bed waiting for me to join her.

"His words weren't an exaggeration. Do you think she felt the same about you when you met?"

"I'm unquestionably sure she felt something too but then again she tricked Walter with her looks and personality…"

"Edward, you are now trekking dangerous waters and you still want to go through it. You felt things for her when you didn't even know who she was. How can you think that you can go through with this without falling in love with her? Or even worse falling in love and she finding out?"

"Lincoln, don't get ahead of you. I don't love her and I won't let myself fall in love with her. She is the same manipulative woman who destroyed my best friend's life and left him to fend for himself"

"You won't be able to turn back around if you do decide to go ahead with it. This will be a one way trip"

"And I am willing to follow through until I get to my final destination"

"I just want to warn…" He quiets down because the door suddenly opens and it was nonetheless Marissa.

"Good Morning Eddie" She smiles and enters parades over to us with a cup of coffee. Marissa was a stunning woman and ex-girlfriend of mine from when we were in College. She was also one of my first employees from when I started the company.

"Good Morning Marissa" Lincoln says making himself known.

"Oh I'm sorry Lincoln I didn't see you there" She giggles. "I can tell Nora to bring you a cup as well"

"I already had my coffee earlier. Thank you for the consideration"

"Nora was actually the one to bring you this but I snatched it from her so I could say hi" She places my Cafeé Americano on my desk.

"Thank you"

"No problem. What were you two boys talking about? As head of the communications department I think I should be informed on anything and everything that has to do with the company" She puts one hand on her waist and leans against the opposite chair of where Lincoln was sitting at.

"Nothing, I was just telling 'Eddie' to not stress out about the big meeting we have today to finalize the deal with our London clients" I look at him and place my head in my hands for some internal peace and quiet.

"You shouldn't be stressed out Edward" I feel her walk behind me and place her hands on my shoulders for a massage. "This is a big day for all of us and you are going to do phenomenal" when I lift my head back up I see the asshole wiggle his eyebrows at me.

"I am not worried about the account in our London offices. We are going to get it. I just want an Advil for my head"

"I can tell Nora to get you one straight away" I see reach for my office phone and dial to my secretary.

"She has enough work to do Marissa" I try to hang up the call but it immediately goes through.

"Yes Mr. Smith"

"This is Ms. Rodriguez again Nora. Can you please bring two Advil and a glass of water to Mr. Smith office; he is experiencing a headache and would like some pills to be delivered right away" She asks.

I could hear the reluctance in Nora's voice but at this point I was willing to beg.

"Nora can you please do this for me…" I said rubbing my temple.

"Of course Mr. Smith, I will have something bring it up to you in about five minutes"

'Thank you" She ends the call.

"Let me do all of the talking today Edward. You don't even have to lift a finger" She goes back to massaging me and even though Lincoln was laughing internally at me it actually felt good. "I am wearing something for good luck" She stops and stands in front of me waiting for my guess.

"I wish I could tell you what it is" She was wearing a tight white long sleeved dress with gold heels and her signature short hair, perfectly placed makeup and long nails that were massaging my pressure points a second ago.

"My earrings silly, you gave them to me for my birthday last year"

"Oh…" I gave her a pair of emerald and diamond drop earrings for her 30th birthday last year.

"They give me good luck and they are the same color as your eyes"

"You should buy me some emerald earrings someday boss" Lincoln says and his statement makes me want to punch him in the face.

"Who is that?" She asks looking at the stacks of pictures I have of Bella I have displayed on the desk.

"Some photos of an event I attended yesterday" I pick them up and throw them in one of my drawers, locking them up with a key.

"I saw her today in the newspaper"

"Yes and now I need the both of you to go and finalize the final details for our meeting. They will be here in person and I want every single detail figured out and ready to go" I stand up and follow them to the door.

"Come on Marissa, we need to inspect the departments and make sure everyone is in their place for the tour" Lincoln delicately shoves Marissa out of my office averting her from asking more questions.

 **Marissa Pov**

"Those were quite a lot of pictures of that woman he had on his desk" A lot of pictures of one woman if you ask me.

"Marissa I suggest you put more time into the meeting and less time into the Edwards pictures. What he does with them are his problems" Lincoln stomps away leaving me alone in the hallway.

Right when I went into his office I knew something was up with Edward and Lincoln. They were talking about something and immediately stopped by the time I entered the room. And if it has to do with Edward, I needed to find out what it was.

 **Vivian Pov**

Another week working at the North American Louis Vuitton Headquarters in New York Cit and I was so glad to be back in the city. Ever since I was living in Chicago I knew I had to come back and make my mark here. Yesterday was a strange day to say the least and the feeling I got when I came home after the event didn't make me feel better.

The event yesterday was so boring that I wanted to ditch it and go to the spa for some real relaxation. I thought there would be hot rich doctors and all got were old and decrypted men and women who didn't even want to buy into the Louis Vuitton brand. Things only got interesting when I meet Edward Smith who I already knew from girlfriends for his skills in bed and his non-commitment nature. The man was mysterious and very interested in me when we were talking until he found I wasn't Isabella Greene.

In other words, Edward Smith thought I was Bella and I wasn't amused at all by the confusion. I was Vivian Phillips and for him to confuse me with Bella was a total slap in the face. Bella was my best friend but she could be such a fake person at times with her joyful personality that made men swoon for her in addition to her huge boobs. During our conversation I thought things were going great until I detected a lot of interest on his part in the fraud case against Walter Taylor and that was something I didn't want to revisit ever.

I waited until my lunch break to call me mother.

"Hello my sunshine" she answers at the second ring.

"Hi mommy"

"How's my little girl?"

"Worried" I scowl as the waiter at the Indian Accent Restaurant walks over to my table and I whisper my first order to him, a glass of chardonnay.

"Tell me all about it honey. Is it work?"

"No, it has nothing to do with work. Yesterday I was at this event that Renee was doing for sick patients and books or whatever and I went because Bella asked me to go and guess who was there"

"Who?"

"Edward Smith and he thought I was Bella. I think he is up to something mother and I am freaking out because I'm almost certain it has to do with what happened with Walter's trial"

"Sweetheart the trial is over. There is nothing for you to be worried about. The lawyer vowed not to divulge your name about the agreement you made with name"

"Mother! Edward Smith is not a stupid if he finds out that I am the woman who gave those papers to Ronald Hoffman's lawyers I am done. He is absolutely up to something!"

"You are making a disaster out of nothing honey, no one knows about your relationship with Walter back in Chicago while he was with Bella. If he wants to launch his own investigation, let him do it"

"Mother you are not helping me. I have this feeling he has plans for Bella, Walter must have told him something about her. He thinks Bella was the one who gave those papers to Hoffman's lawyers and since Bella's father is one of the lawyers he made the instant connection to her".

"Honey…Bella's father has no idea about your contribution to the case. Your agreement was with his other lawyers since you didn't want this to affect your friendship with Bella. You sustained an affair with her boyfriend for more than five months Vivian"

"I loved him mother and he wanted to stay with Bella. How do you think that made me feel?"

"You did it for the money Vivian. What they offered to you was too much for you to pass up and since you had access to his house and office it was easy to get the papers that they wanted. He hurt you and I totally understand that.

"It's not fair that Bella gets whatever she wants and I end up taking her second hand stuff. Walter was mine and I was determined for him to be mine until she appeared and took him away and I had to conform into being his lover"

"Don't moan about it Vivian. That man will always be yours and since he was only intimate with you during that time you will always have that against her. So back to Mr. Smith, What does he have to do in any of this?"

"Walter had told me in several occasions that he and Edward were best friends and business partners. He was actually the person that helped him build his company and invested some money for it to take off. Edward Smith is a billionaire mother. His money doesn't only come in from his hedge funds" The chardonnay arrives leaving me to take a large sip to calm from boisterous nerves.

"So what is his sudden interest with Bella?" Is my mother deaf or did she not just hear my ten minute rant?!

"Mother…" I breathe out. "I am not exactly sure about his plans with Bella but I can assure you that they are not good. I need to talk to Walter and only he will tell everything I need to know about this. The situation I don't want is for Edward to find out who really took those papers from Walter's apartment, I even made sure to put on her clothes and a wig to disguise myself as Bella so I wouldn't get caught. She was the only one with the keys to his apartment. I had to take them from her purse" I was the woman who loved him uncontrollably but he instead chose to give the keys to his apartment to her.

"You are a smart woman Vivian. What you need to do is follow Edward leads and make him think that Bella was always the woman who betrayed his best friend. After a while he won't find anything against her and he will give up"

"I'll call you back mother Allison is here" I see my sister Allison walk into the restaurant and ask the hostess for me.

"Tell her I said hi and I will call you girls later tonight. I love you"

"Love you too" I hang up just in time as she sits down on the chair across from me.

"Sorry I'm late, last minute details for next week's trip for Dubai fashion week" My sister was a stylist and had an elite list of clientele. "What's with the face?" she circles my face with her finger and places her designer handbag on the side hanger.

"Mom says hi and I am officially freaking out. How about you?"

"What's wrong now?" she asks

My sister and my mother were the only people who knew about my life back in Chicago and the stuff that went down when I made the agreement with Walter's associate lawyers for three million dollars in exchange for the information they needed to implicate him in fraud activities.

"Vivian I agree with mom. You need to calm down and figure out a way to get the information you need out of Walter and also distance your name as far as you can from Edward's plans. If he wants to get involved with Bella you are going to have to convince him that she is everything he thinks she is"

"I need to contact Walter. He is at a treatment center in California but I need to see him before he comes back to the city. I can't afford for us to get caught together by photographers here"

"If you want to talk to him, you will need to travel to California and talk to him in person so there is no confusion. You can actually go this weekend, talk to him and come back to figure out what you are going so none of us are involved in his trickeries" She says. "Walter is dangerous but you don't want to mess with Edward Smith and if he is determined about this. He is going to use all of his resources to get to the bottom of it and destroy whoever ruined his best friend life and tried to involve him into the case as an anonymous investor"

The only way I am going to get a piece of what was going on in Edward's mind is if I go to California and talk to Walter even if I still loved him and betrayed him for my own financial gain as revenge for giving his love to Bella and being blind to what was always right in front of him.

" _I could never hurt him enough to make his betrayal stop hurting. And it hurts, in every part of my body" Veronica Roth_

* * *

 **Vivian is the real person who took those papers and gave them to Walter's enemy.**

 **Edward is still going to follow through on his word despite his initial feelings for Bella.**

 **How will Walter react to getting a visit from his former lover?**

 **How will Vivian react to seeing Walter again?**

 **What will he tell her?**

 **Next chapter will feature Vivian's trip to California and Edwards's first attempts to get close to Bella.**

 **Make sure to leave your reviews and suggestions.**

 **I love you all :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: I don't own Twilight or the characters :)**

 **I'm here my faithful friends! Chapter 4 is ready. I want to make a shout out to those of you who have added the story and the author to their favorites or following: acw1, lildv274 and DJW Isabella Cullen.**

 **Don't forget to check out all the pictures of this chapter at the official blog which is posted on my profile.**

 **Please do not disturb**

 **Reading ;)**

 **Chapter 4**

 **What is going on?**

 **Bella Pov**

I got back home after a successful first day at work with a potent smell of burnt hitting my nose as I open the door to the apartment.

I see Rachel with her arms up trying to disperse the smoke and avoid a fire alarm warning. "I wanted to surprise you with dinner" She whines.

"I can see that…" I place my bag on our dining room table and roll my sleeves up to help.

"There is no hope. You were always a better cook." She says, throwing the scorched crumbs of what was a piece of chicken into the trash.

"Don't give up." I laugh. "How about we order some food and relax? It's Monday and you wouldn't want this kitchen tragedy to follow you throughout the week."

"Don't even… My mother already thinks the worst of me since I am not a skilled Puerto Rican. This is the last time I am copying a recipe from Pinterest." She keeps ranting while I in the meantime had taken my cellphone out to order some Tai food that would arrive in twenty minutes.

"How was work?" She watches me take off my very beautiful but painful six inch heels. I finally get the two traps off my feet and replace them with my house sandals, if only I could wear them at work as well.

"I have a good boss, my coworkers are nice and I hit it off with the museum's director. I mean he knows my mom, but then again I would hope I made a good impression on my own merits"

"I'm sure of that babe." "Is he hot? Maybe a work hard and play hard situation can happen." She smiles.

"I don't think so… I'm not really into men in their sixties who are married with children around the same age as I am" I pout. "I am going to change into my PJ's." I lift my body from our couch and head towards my bedroom.

"Don't take too long. A new season of the bachelor is starting in an hour and I bought wine in a box." She shouts.

I know what you're thinking. Bella, why do you like that show? If there is someone to blame it's Rachel, just like my obsession with telenovelas that helped me polish my Spanish. She is responsible for getting me hooked on one of the most drama-filled shows ever made, The Bachelor.

I get my body into some long pants and a basic string shirt. "Are you sure you want to do that?" She questions me and points to my hanging breasts.

"I'm not going to bed like this, just until they can recover from being confined all day. I'll put on my night bra before I fall asleep." I throw myself next her on the couch and grab my comfy throw. The couch was the perfect size and the light entering from the balcony was showing us the bright city that we called home.

"It's my first time drinking wine from a box." I confess, observing Rachel's technique to open the cap. "You'll love it. Wine boxes were great in college rages because they didn't leave any glass shards. Drunken people and glass don't mix."

"Nice to know…" Rachel always has lots of 'great facts' that always made me say the more you know.

 _Good evening, I'm Chis Harrison and welcome to season 27 of The Bachelor. Tonight will be the night our bachelor Austin meets the 20 potential women who will be fighting for his heart. Before we bring out Austin, let us meet some of the women who will come out of the limo in a few minutes._

"I came home late but you never told me how it went yesterday." Rachel asks.

"It went great. We raised a lot of money for the project and I met a lot of interesting people on the way." I try to control my facial expressions, however my lips form a distinctive smirk.

"Who is he?" She caught me red cheeked.

"Who?" I take another sip of the wine which I think wasn't the wisest choice since it makes my tongue as loose as a goose.

"Don't play dumb with me Greene" she mutes the TV. "You are blushing and your white ass skin is soaking up all the redness. I want to know who he is and I want you to tell me right now!"

I give up and tell her about the whole encounter with Edward.

"Movie things only happen to you Bella" she stated, pouring more wine into our glasses not giving a care that today is Monday and we still have 4 days til the weekend. "You fall in the most glamorous events and to top it off, right into the arms of the hottest bachelor in the country no pun intended"

"There is no need to get feverish about him Rache. He seemed like a normal guy." "To be honest I was so embarrassed when it happened, you have no idea."

"Bella, that 'normal' guy is the one of the richest men on the planet and in New York he means power and money. The New York Times called him one of the most influential people in business today, not to mention women throw themselves at him."

"Hey! I didn't throw myself at him. I fell." I insisted, thinking she was making an insinuation about my epic fail.

"No one said you did sweetheart" she grins in suggestive way that I didn't like. "Your blush is just a reminder of how things work for him. The man is 34 and wealthy, which makes him the quintessential charmer."

"I don't care if he is rich. I don't want to come across as snobbish but my family is very well off and the last thing I look at in a man is his money."

"And that's why we are best friends. I'm glad you met him and by the look on your face you fancy him."

"Fancy him?" I question her choice of words.

"I'm expanding my vocabulary, book girl" She loves calling me book girl. "Back to the situation at hand, by the narration of your little story you can't possibly tell me that he wasn't charming"

"He was a gentleman and incredibly nice. There was an instant of flirtation but it ended and started at the party."

"Sounds to me you had a moment there." She says, playing with her wine glass in a circular movement.

"I did feel something, nonetheless, the event was for my mom and there's a good chance we won't run into each other again."

"You can't choose where you find love. It will find you anywhere at any moment."

"Don't say that Rache…" I interject.

"I haven't seen your face bright up this much in a long time Bella and it's the first time I mention his name. You don't want to admit it but the hopeless romantic in you found something, and I mean something potentially special." She gets up for snacks, leaving me with my own thoughts.

 **Edward Pov**

"You love this weather" I sit down on a cold bench in Central Park. New York woke up with a bright morning and a 40 degree climate, making my morning run interesting since I brought my running mate with me.

Bark! Bark! Bark!

"Hey! Because of you I have the apartment at a below zero always. I think you are rather spoiled if you ask me" I argue.

Bark! Bark!

"Don't worry. We'll do another lap before we go. Have a little consideration that not all of us have the energy to drag a sled through the Alaskan snow" I could see people staring at us at the discussion taking place.

I didn't do this every day nevertheless today I got the chance to take my dog Flynn for a run through Central Park. For Flynn this was everything he lives for since he is a Siberian husky and a well-known active dog in the canine community. Let's just say that if you are thinking about getting this breed I suggest you drink a lot of red-bull to keep up with them.

Bark! Bark!

"Here" I take him off his leash. "Run around and give your old man some time to recover" I don't even get to the old man part before he runs off into the field, rolling around like crazy. "Maniac" I laugh because it wasn't really a dream of mine to have a dog in the first place but now I can't think of a life without this dog as crazy as he can be. For my thirty second birthday my parents had planned this whole dinner at a restaurant and after some struggle on my part I finally agreed to meet up with them for a casual dinner at Carmine's.

By the end of the night my mom brought out an envelope for me to open up in front of them, not unexpected for me since she does it for everyone for their birthday.

 _Flashback_

" _Tyler, make sure to keep the camera up so you can get a good frame of your uncle." A very pregnant Alice instructs. She knows I hate it when they film me._

" _Why don't you get a good shot of your aunt instead?" I propose._

" _I heard that a camera adds ten pounds!" My niece Luna shouts._

" _Let's find out then…" I suggest but quiet down when Alice gives me a death stare that makes me unsure if I will live to see thirty three._

" _Here you go sweetheart." My mom places the card in my hand and does waste time to kiss me on the cheek like she always does._

" _Thanks mom." I read the card in the comfort of my mind._

" _Read the card out loud you grumpy old man!" My sister yells in her usual high pitch voice._

" _Jaspar, would you please control your wife?" I decided to place the card back into the envelope. I would rather keep my emotions at bay when it comes to this kind of things but they know that I love them._

" _Sorry Ed there is no way I can make that happen." He answers in his posh British accent. I on the other handshake my head and look back at Alice who is now giggling uncontrollably, doing a horrible job covering it from it._

" _What is it now?" I say, frustrated because by the looks of it my family is in on the joke too. Not to mention that the kids were getting very impatient._

 _Screeching noises of "AWEEEEEE" start coming out of everyone's mouth._

" _What the hell?" I start turning my head to see where all the reactions were coming from and for the first time in a long time I was genuinely surprised._

" _Happy Birthday!" My mom says while holding a small puppy in her arms. I move my head back to look at my dad._

" _Before you say anything, this was your mother's idea." He lifts his arms up._

" _Mom…." She places the puppy in my hands, and he or she starts chewing on my fingers. "I appreciate the gift but…"_

" _No buts, I love you so much honey and since I'm not going to see you getting married anytime soon I've decided for another alternative to keep you company. He is so precious; I mean, look at this face" She squeezes his puppy cheeks._

" _That dog looks expensive mom. How much did he cost?" Emmett asks._

" _You know better than to buy puppies Emmett. This poor thing was in a puppy mill up in a Pennsylvania farm; your father knew that I was interested in getting a dog for your brother's birthday so after some researching he found out that they were giving away 50 pure breed puppies for adoption." My mom was really selling this sad story to me and my manly 'say no' attitude was crumbing quickly. "He is a Siberian husky, he is about 8 weeks old and it was love at first sight. I can see that he is very relaxed in his daddy's arms" I look down and see him snuggling._

" _Edward can barely make his own cup of coffee in the morning. How is he going to keep him alive?" Alice comments._

" _Mom, I agree with Alice on this one. This is one of the busiest years for the company" The Oculus Capital Investment was in it's best years and because of that, it was also a year in which I barely had time to take care of myself._

" _Mommy! Doggy!" At least my two year old niece Georgie was really into him, she was ready to take him from my hands and give him her best hugs and heavy petting._

" _You have a brother coming in a few weeks baby" Jasper comes over and picks her up so I wouldn't have to worry about the dog chewing her hand off from her rather aggressive approach._

" _So you don't want him?" My mom was getting upset and that was the last thing I wanted to do to the woman who is the reason I am celebrating a birthday._

" _He is great mom and even though I have no idea how I am going to handle him, you took the time and thought about my needs" I can see the tears start to form and that's when she went back to being her happy self. She walks back and gives me a big embrace._

" _I love you honey" She kisses my cheek._

" _I love you too mom" I kiss her back._

" _Mom if you were worried about Edward needs you should have given him a few lap dances at the club, he wouldn't have said no" Emmett jokes but I didn't have to punch him because his wife Rosalie does it for me._

 _End of flashback._

It's been two years since that moment and my mom was right, as always.

"Sorry to bother you." I take a few sips of my water bottle when an attractive woman approaches me. "Is this seat free?"

"Yeah." I move my body to make some space for her on the bench which faced towards the open field. Flynn was still in his element of rolling around, enjoying the feeling of getting himself dirty.

"Is he your dog?" she asks as I smile.

"Yes"

"He is adorable. You can tell his love for dirt."

"A dirt lover for sure, the daycare is going to love it when I take him there." She laughs at my observation.

"My name is Diana" she offers me her hand.

"I'm Edward. Nice to meet you" As the conversation goes on I can't help but go back to my first meeting with Bella. Since that fateful day about a week ago I haven't been able to get her out of my mind and I think I've lost my own sense of rationality seeing that I hired another private investigator to follow her every move, gaining a file of her in my office with all of the information I needed to go along with the plan. This new investigator managed to let me know that she lived with a roommate called Rachel in Brooklyn, which was strange since I would have thought that a gold-digger like her would prefer living on her own in a brand new exclusive apartment building with concierge in Chelsea or Soho. She was also very known in the social scene, but without risking her private life, citing that she only is active on a private Instagram account.

My IT person was able to get into her account without her even knowing it and I was able to find out more about her interests and activities. She looked absolutely gorgeous in every single picture, things I already knew like her love for books and travel, throwback times as a volleyball player in college, an active participant in the eco-community and her love for the Giants (football). I could see Walter's attention in her. The perception of her makes it seem that she is a down to earth woman with her own life outside family luxuries but that didn't change anything for me because she was still a deceiving person who was ready to get what she wants no matter the cost as long as it wasn't a cost she would have to pay.

"You must be very well known" I am suddenly sucked back into reality by the woman was sitting right next to me. "I've heard and seen that company everywhere".

"I try to keep to myself. It's hard when business is growing and you're the one in charge of it all" Her eyes immediately light up at the sole mention of who was the boss.

"Wow! I thought you worked there but you are Edward Smith, the owner of the Oculus Capital Investment Group" She beams. My luck to have found a woman interested in my 'job' I sarcastically thought.

"And now I'm late" I look at my watch to see that I am indeed behind schedule. "Flynn!" I shout for my dog so I can get myself out of this situation. It doesn't take long for him to crash into me.

"Let's go buddy, you have to eat some breakfast and I need to shower for work" I stretch his ears and place the leash back on him. "Do you run back home?" I ask.

"I live in the East Village. It's going to take me another hour to get back"

"I can give you ride back home. My driver is right around the corner" I normally don't give strangers a ride but I am feeling very kind today.

"I would appreciate it." I look at Flynn who is bored out of his mind on the floor, ready to go.

The car picks us up and I give directions to my driver to drop me off first before taking the woman to East Village. "It was very nice to meet you. My driver will drop you off wherever you need to be" I signal to Flynn so he could jump out of the car. I move to close the door when she stops it with her hand. "Thank you again. I'm free this weekend if you're interested" She places a piece of paper in my hand and smiles before I finally get the chance to close the car door.

"I'll let you rip this up when we get home." This piece of paper contained what I could only guess was Diana's phone number.

Bark! Bark!

Flynn was definitely up for the challenge.

It was a blessing to have a secondary entrance to my apartment building since paparazzi were a permanent staple around the neighborhood, with a non-stop interest in me. Alice is always hassling about how my job was so boring but when the biggest gossip magazines print stories about my love life she couldn't help herself into buying some and then texting me throughout the day about the girls I go out with.

 **Vivian Pov**

Since the last conversation I had with my mother and sister I knew I had to fly out to California and talk to Walter about this situation with Edward, I couldn't let this interfere in my life. I finally got the chance to clear my social and work schedule to visit Walter in Malibu this past weekend. It was easy to get the information since the press was interested in his story and published his exact location in a luxurious rehab center that was costing him twenty thousand per week.

"Tell me everything!" My sister was able to pick me up from the airport after my encounter with Walter, since she wanted the whole gossip.

"I will tell you when we get to the apartment but let me just say that I got more than what I was looking for" I said looking out of my window.

 _Last Weekend…_

 _I finally get out of LAX after a long six hour flight and it was one in the morning. I didn't want to leave anything to suspicion so I decided to leave after work at five pm to head out, pick up my bags from the apartment and call a taxi that would drive me to the airport._

" _Welcome to the Malibu Beach Inn Ms. Phillips. Your room is ready and we welcome you again to all of our amenities during your stay."_

" _Thank you" I said. "Later today I will require a makeup artist and hairstylist to be brought to my room, and a car if you can have that ready for me around 12 pm"_

" _Of course" He hands me my room key and I am free to go up knowing that my bags will already be there._

 _Next day…_

 _The room that I had booked was accommodating and nothing special to what my needs were for the weekend so after at least eight hours of sleep I woke up at nine am to start getting ready for my surprise visit to Walter. Breakfast arrived just in time as I stepped out of the shower and the professional makeup and hairstylist arrived an hour after._

" _What's the occasion?" The woman who was in charge of fixing my hair asked._

" _I'm visiting a friend." The hour was getting close for me to be face to face with the man I used to love._

" _A friend huh… Sounds to me he seems more than a friend." The makeup artist smiles._

" _It's because he is more of an ex of mine. We use to date but now we are good friends."_

" _You are going to look drop dead gorgeous. Show him what he is missing."_

" _That's the goal." I agree._

 _Since I was going to see Walter it was only logical for me to go incognito, wearing a plunging blue long sleeve short dress that ties around my waist and furry Giuseppe Zanotti heels. For makeup and accessories I still wanted to look attractive, leaning towards Smokey eyes, a pink pout, and wavy locks. I made sure to bring my Versace sunglasses, a pair of diamond studs and my faithful Louis Vuitton handbag to complete the appearance._

 _When I finally did get to Walter's hiding place I couldn't risk it all by giving the front desk people my real name so I've opted to fake it, knowing that Vivian Phillips would give inside people the information they needed for tomorrows papers._

" _Priscilla Taylor. I'm here to see Walter Taylor." I approach the counter._

" _Do you have a visitation time with Mr. Taylor?" She asks._

" _No, I do not. I was hoping I could see him."_

" _Are you related with Mr. Taylor?" This woman was clearly stupid to put our last names together._

" _He is my cousin."_

" _I would need to take your picture and show it to Mr. Taylor for security reason.s"_

" _Of course." I stand in front of their web camera as she takes a picture of me, sunglasses off, to successively processes it into the system._

" _Mr. Walter will see you in his room. You will have 2 hours with him before our visitation hours are over Ms. Taylor"_

 _After walking through several hallways of this massive Malibu mansion I finally saw the man who used to take up every inch of my brain, not to mention my body._

" _You don't look like my cousin Priscilla." He said, posing against the door._

" _Maybe the reason is because she doesn't exist." I walk right pass him and into his bedroom._

" _You were always a feisty woman Ms. Taylor." He closes the door._

" _This is a very nice bedroom considering you're in rehab."_

" _If I'm going to be here I should get the same accommodations I get back in New York. You of all people know about luxury." He motions me towards the two chair that face the fireplace but I choose to leave my bag on his nightstand and sit on his king size bed._

" _I like you on my bed. It reminds me of the good times we use to have together back in Chicago." He tries to sit next to me but I'm quick to place my right leg in his way._

" _Speaking of Chicago, Have you've spoken with Bella?" His grinning face turns into annoyance in a matter of seconds._

" _Angry about something… Honey?" I watch as his fist clenches by the inquiry._

" _Why would I talk to her?" He walks back and forth._

" _Oh I don't know… Maybe it has to do with your legal case. The whole debatable that made you come to this place." He stops in his tracks with his back facing me. "It's not in my place to intrude but when a Mr. Smith approaches me thinking I was Bella. I couldn't help but be curious."_

" _He mistook you for Bella. You two are best friends."_

" _Don't act coy with me Walter. Bella and I are best friends but we don't look anything alike. You know every inch of this body." I stroke my finger across my expose cleavage. "Unlike Bella's" I said mockingly._

" _Now tell me, why would Edward be so sure I was Bella?" I point my finger at him. "And don't say that you don't know what I'm talking about because the event was all over the news."_

" _Vivian… What do you want from me? Can't you see where I am right now? The last thing I need is for your mind to go places."_

" _The only thing I want is the truth Walter. I know you're best friends with Edward and he knows everything about your case with your ex associate. I'm not stupid so don't test me on my limits. Edward wants something with Bella and by the feeling I got from this confusion, it makes me believe it's not good."_

" _Vivian, I keep my life very private."_

" _Very private enough that Bella's father got something into his hands that made him win the case for Ronald; I mean he was his lawyer after all." I decided to let him in on a piece of my findings._

" _Whatever the outcome of the case might have been, you have no part in this." Poor thing, little did he know._

" _Why so grumpy at Bella?" He tilts his head at me. "I'm trying to protect a friend, that's all" I grin back._

" _Protect a friend." he chuckles under his breath. "I guess that protection includes fucking her boyfriend for five months too, right?"_

" _I'm sorry but the last time I recall you weren't getting any from her." I reply with their lack of sexual intimacy._

" _She was a mistake from the beginning." He finally confesses. "And another thing… If we are going to talk in all sincerity, don't act as if you like her. There was a time I had you both in my hands and you fucking hated that."_

" _Fine" I puff out. "I do it to keep up with my image. Her family is very affluent in New York and you already know my taste for luxury which includes my social circles."_

" _Then why so interested in her well-being?"_

" _Because…" I lift myself off of the bed to join him, grabbing his collared shirt between my fingers. "I can help you get back into shape. Bella is no longer in our good graces and she doesn't need to know that. Tell me everything and I will offer my services to this plan you and Edward have in mind."_

" _How do you know Edward and I have a 'plan'?" He arches his eyebrow to my claim while holding me by the waist._

" _No, no, no… You don't get to pick on my brain." I whisper. He stays immobile until he ultimately gives into the temptation of having me on his side, jackpot._

 _The whole narration of events took about half an hour without any interruptions and let me tell you that this plan was so sinful from a woman's perspective that I was glad Bella would be in the center of it. Maybe it will teach not to be such a people pleaser._

" _Let me get this straight. Edward is going to seduce her so he could get some information out of her about your case to use it against her father." "What you want is a tall order, even for the two of you." I say._

" _In the beginning I didn't want him to get involved. However, after hearing his character being questioned he got fired up and told me about what he wanted us to do. He really thinks she is a gold-digger and an easy girl, I on the other hand told him it wouldn't be as easy. I didn't know that she had this side to her to be able to throw me under the bus but when we first met and during our relationship she was a sweet, beautiful, hardworking girl."_

" _Don't give her too much credit." I roll my eyes. "This is dangerous because those papers weren't altered or a sham, you were actually doing those illegal activities." His story was more elaborate than what I had initially anticipated. "Edward could get to the bottom of this and this whole plan will blow up in your face." I ended the sentence, running my hand through my hair._

" _My intentions don't lie into reigniting the case. What's done is done. I just want to ruin Charlie Greene's and his precious daughter's image in exchange for ruining mine and almost taking down Edward with me."_

" _Walter, you can't stay here forever." How is he supposed to pull this off without even being in the city?_

" _There will come a time in which my presence will be needed back in New York and during that period I will work with him on some new projects. We are only going to be act as new acquaintances. Our friendship has never been displayed in any type of press so it would be as if we had just met and decided to work together." He shrugs his shoulders in total confidence._

" _You have to be careful. If she sees you interacting with him too much she will start to get suspicious"_

" _I doubt she will even know I am there. My work will be anonymous and low key. If she does find out and asks Edward about me. Edward will tell her that I am working with him, which is a hundred percent true. The suspicious person will be Edward since she doesn't want to go into full detail about our short relationship."_

" _I thought this would be easy but then what do you need me to do?" I ask since it's the whole reason of why I'm here in the first place. I can't have him or Edward finding out that I was the person they needed to avenge from. I stand up since it was time for me to leave._

" _Stay close to her and really encourage her relationship with Edward. By the looks of it she is going to be very focused on her new job but if we want to make this work we have to play it smart from the beginning. Another thing, this whole conversation is exclusive. Edward does not need to know about you and me. If Edward knows that we were together in any romantic way and it gets to Bella's ears the whole thing will be off." He warns._

" _Trust me the last thing I need is a reminder of you and I together" I walk to the nightstand to collect my things before heading out the door. When I finally turn around to head out there he was again and unlike the space we have given to each other during this conversation he was now inches from my face making me place the palms of my hands on the table for some stability._

" _Leaving so soon…" He whispers pressing his 6 foot 3 body against me._

" _Yes... Our encounters should only be amicable and I won't get hurt by you again, that's for sure." I recount past events._

" _Vivian, I thought I could keep my hands to myself but having the chance to be in the same room with you has been illuminating to me since you were always there." His hand finds a spot on my chin. "When I was with Bella I couldn't be as honest with her as I was with you. I regret the moment I set eyes on her because you were there to pick up the pieces and keep me happy"_

" _And look where it got me. I came here to help and this time I am not playing for second best on the sidelines" I retort with disdain._

" _Forgive me Vivian. I've been stupid and a total asshole, this time it will be different." He insists._

" _I don't believe you, now let me leave." The tightness between us made it impossible for me to gain any access to open space._

" _You don't want to leave. Your body is telling me otherwise" He drops his hand to my breast was and found a very hard peak to caress. "Vivian… Don't leave me" He spoke my name is a way that was difficult not to react to._

" _Walter…" Before I could counter react his lips were on mine. The taste of him was still the same and so was the erotic fire concerning us, therefore, I let him find the string that was holding my dress together._

 _He breaks the kiss. "I need to make love to you right now" he says, pulling on the string to expose what I had underneath, a black lace lingerie one piece with a plunging neckline. "You thought you could come here and leave without me seeing this" my breath was erratic and seeing his hard on wasn't helping me to stay focus either._

" _I didn't wear it for you." I finally pronounced something coherent._

" _Of course not and you won't be wearing it in a few seconds." He pushes the rest of my dress off, picking me up and throwing me on the bed._

" _Someone will see us" I moan._

" _No one will be knocking any time soon and the windows are screened" I try to argue back but his lips attack mine._

 _Forget about the talking agenda._

 _An hour later…_

" _This will really help me in my recovery." He says as we both try to recover our heart rates from the exhilarating session that just happened._

" _Walter, what does this mean?" I ask him._

" _You're mine Vivian. We are exclusive." "I'm yours and vice versa." He kisses me, embracing me as the thin sheet covers us._

" _I don't know… This was nice…" I detangle myself from him to sit up._

" _It was more than nice. You are the sexiest woman I have ever met and this was going to happen either way." Such a smug basterd._

" _How will I know you're not going to toy with me like you did the first time?" I question him._

" _I have learnt from my mistakes Viv. I should have been with you this whole time. When this is all said and done, I am going to whisk you away and show you off to the world because you deserve nothing less than the best of everything". He pulls me again into his arms. "Let me show you how much you mean to me" We kiss but I couldn't stay here any longer. My two hour visit was almost up._

" _I will accept you into my life again but this time" I trace his lips. "I'm the one in charge" I decide to search for my dress, as for my underwear, it was a lost cause._

" _Whatever you say baby…" he stares at me while I clothe my body._

" _I have to leave before your faithful rehab helpers come in. Your mental state won't be the only thing wrong in this situation" I say alluding towards the 'incestuous' activities. I am his fake cousin after all._

" _My lovely Priscilla, when will I see you again?" He stretches._

" _When are you leaving this dump?"_

" _I'm giving it a month" He replies._

" _Then expect one more visit and a lot of Skype calls baby…" I give him a final peck before heading for the door. "I have a new assignment"._

" _Be ready for me when you come back"_

" _I will expect the same from you" I close the door to follow my path back to New York._

 _An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind._

— _Mahatma Gandhi_

* * *

 **Vivian has manipulative ways to her character and she is ready to bring Walter and Edward to their knees.**

 **It looks like Edward is going through with his plan.**

 **Bella is ready for what her work has to offer but is she ready for a new love that comes with dark intentions.**

 **Stick around and find out on Monday!**

 **Love you all!**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: I do not own Twilight or the Characters :(**

 **Here we go again.**

 **Check the pictures of this chapter on my blog you will find the link on my profile**

 **Please do not disturb**

 **Reading ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

 **Fate is here**

 **Present day**

"Oh my god! Are you serious?" My sister couldn't believe what I was telling her. The thought of Walter and Edward accomplishing this plan looked very arduous.

"I'm sooo exhausted…" We finally got to my apartment in the trendy neighborhood of SoHo and an area well known for its many gallery's and artists.

"Not strange given the fact you travelled across the country for a weekend and ended up having sex with a former flame turned new flame again." She remarks.

"If you were in that room with me you would have felt the same heavy energy."

"Not to mention the sexual tension" she adds.

"I didn't have anything that really happened figured out when I flew out there. It started as a normal conversation and ended being more." The migraine I was suffering from wasn't really from the flight but from all the facts that were revealed to me.

"So where your relationship does with Walter stands?"

"I made my thoughts known to him after we were together" "He wouldn't even dare to make me look stupid. I am now a part of this and I will make sure he does everything I tell him to do in order to bury my involvement with his case forever. As for Bella, I really have no interest in her feelings or wellbeing. The tramp stole what was supposed to be mine and it's time for me to take it back."

"You are such an instigator." She laughs.

"You could say it's my second job" I smile back. "My job is to bring Edward and Bella together and make sure she falls in love with him. Walter and I agreed in that we would have to move quickly so I am going have to spend more time with her."

"I wish you luck Viv. You are going to have so much fun." she says sarcastically.

"Shut up. My insides are already burning with hate but this will be worth it when I have Walter all to myself and leave Bella feeling the same way I felt when the love of my life betrayed me." The disloyalty on this occasion will extend even deeper.

 **Bella Pov**

"We should go out on Saturday. I need a few drinks and a man in me." Rachel says.

"You do know its Monday." Laura replies pulling out the cork of a fresh bottle of red wine for dinner at our apartment.

"There is nothing wrong in planning ahead. Plus, it's something I look forward to." She smiles. "What do you think Bells?" I was putting the final touches on the garlic steaks with walnut pesto and a balsamic roasted salad on the side.

"Why don't we have a quiet dinner with friends instead?" I suggest.

"Orrrrrr…" she drags out the r. "We can dress up in our sexy outfits and put theses puppies to work." She grabs my boobs and shakes them in a rather uncomfortable way.

"Rachel please!"

"I really need an outlet and this city is already giving us all the tools. We've been working non-stop for two weeks straight with no fun." She plops herself on our sofa leaving me and Laura doing all the hard work to put food on the table.

Our cellphones ring at the same time.

"I'll get it!" Rachel jumps up.

"I'm glad you offered lazy ass." Laura says.

Rachel answers her cellphone since it was most likely a call from the lobby.

"We should get out and have some fun." Laura comments to me.

"Sucked in huh?" I laugh by Rachel own ways to persuade.

"Don't get confused by her magical powers. I am going for the booze and you should too."

There is a knock on the door and the sound of someone opening it.

"Oh wow! You shouldn't have" Rachel exclaims at whoever was on the other side. "Where do I sign?"

"Who is it Rache!" I shout, too busy fixing the table to investigate but before I could continue a huge arrangement is placed on my neatly organized surface where we were supposed to eat.

"It's a shitload of flowers. They must be from my lover."

"I guess we are eating on the floor." Laura walks in on us after taking a trip to the bathroom. "Your lover bought the entire supply of roses for the day" she makes the observation.

"I was just messing with you because the flowers are for Bella Boo"

"For me?" I said surprised. The flowers were absolutely beautiful that consisted in only pink roses.

"Yes ma'am and it came with a message" She reached into the sea of roses and picks out a small white card, and hands it to me.

It's been awhile but I still haven't forgotten that I saved your life. The only way you can thank me is to accept my invitation to dinner.

Att. 'Dr. Smith'

Those few words were all I needed to figure out the mysterious source of this unexpected delivery and I couldn't help but form the same grin I had the day that I met him.

"Read it out woman!"

"You wouldn't understand it" I reply to them.

"Fine" Rachel taps on her foot and stay quiet, a little too silent. "Give it to me" She grabs the card and holds it over her head to give it a quick read"

"Who the hell is Dr. Smith?" And like I warned her a few seconds ago, she still hadn't gotten the flirtatious joke until a full minute. "This is a naughty card!"

"Not even close!" I defend to Laura since she was the only one who was understandably confused by all of this.

"This card is from Edward Smith isn't it" I open my mouth. "Don't answer that because it has to be from him. By the expression on that innocent face you bet your ass it was from the illustrious Edward Smith, the man practically saved your life"

"Okay! You have to stop taking notes from my mother." I exclaim. She always calls Rachel first to know where I am when I don't answer my own cellphone and those two were chatters.

"You thought he was doctor."

"And he isn't." I respond.

"So you want us to think it's from his father…The real Dr. Smith." she arches her eyebrow.

"I don't want you to think anything. I appreciate and will extend my gratitude but it will have to be attached with a rejection" They look at me as if I were crazy. "My heart needs a break and work is helping me focus my attention on establishing my professional life"

"What she needs is a dick in her vajayjay" Rachel makes the sly remark to Laura. I turn to her and cross my arms. "And we can help you with that on Friday" she adds.

"I'm still directing the message to his assistant tomorrow" I firmly stated.

 **Edward Pov**

It was already Wednesday with no response from Bella. I had a large arrangement of pink roses sent to her apartment. That being said, I was getting frustrated by the lack of interest on her part since I was going insane to know about her and he whereabouts. Nothing had change in two weeks but the loss of my own saneness and the gain of an obsession with Isabella. I needed to figure out a way to get closer to her, gain trust and find the trail into her heart.

I was busy stalking her private Instagram once again like I did religiously every single day and it looked like she had a nice dinner evening at her apartment since the picture was of her smiling with two of her friends.

"Are you ready?" my COO and resident intruder Lincoln walks in without any warning.

"You confidence is high to come into my office without knocking"

"I like to go under the radar and create shock wherever I go. Now get up, we have a lunch with our Tokyo partners in half an hour and it will take us twenty minutes to get to the restaurant depending on the traffic." "What are you doing anyway?" He marches towards my desk to check on my computer, giving me no time to close Bella's social media.

"You have a problem." He covers his eyes with his hands in disappointment.

"I was just gathering more information. She had dinner with friends on Monday." I look back at the picture.

"You have a huge file on her, what more do you want. You can check on her once in a while but don't be a lurker."

"Fuck…" I jerk my head and recline into my chair. "Why does she have to be so fucking gorgeous?"

"You are attracted to her and I don't blame you"

"I have never felt like this before. Women don't make me stop what I am doing" I hated it.

"Then you have met your down fall because I have seen you stare down at your phone looking at more pictures of her during big important meetings. I swear I could have thrown a pencil at you and you wouldn't even blink." I look at him in disapproval.

"Someone needs to keep this company afloat when its big boss is in fairy land about a woman."

"I'm not in fairy land."

"I didn't get that facial expression at those meetings. I am right next you in every meeting and its like are in trance just looking at those pictures." He grabs the mouse to get a close-up look at her. "You are going to have a big problem getting this ill-advised revenge on this woman if you can't put your feelings aside." He concludes.

"It's a pure carnal attraction. I don't have any plans to fall in love with her."

"Whatever you say boss but don't tell me later that I didn't say so. She is more dangerous to you than you are to her."

"Of course she is dangerous! She is a hidden opportunist and I will not be trapped by her charms or looks. Walter was the first to fall and I am going to make sure he is the last one." I hissed.

"Why don't I make her fall in love with me to make things for you a little easier?" "You're going to have a lot of competition." he proposes.

"I don't have time for your fucking jokes Lincoln. She is mine for the taking and be sure that I am going to treat her as if she were the gold-digger that I know she is."

"I'll get out of your way then and observe from afar." He chuckles which doesn't help me at the thought of him trying to get close to Bella. I already have one person to worry about which was little lover Grant Butler, Bella's close friend. It was only after the event that I found out that they weren't dating, nevertheless, it was evident he wanted more with her.

I decide to put Bella to the side and focus on what would be my only love, my company. As Lincoln and I get ready to head out there is a small knock on the door, and I see my assistant prodding her head into the office.

"Mr. Smith?" She asks. "I have something for you."

"I have a business lunch to go to Nora. What is it?" I said, fixing my suit cuff.

"A Ms. Greene just called and left you this message." It only took for my assistant to mention her name for me to get excited. She is finally conceding to me.

"Why didn't I get the call?" I ask, seeing that I would have preferred to talk to her myself. I've wanted to hear that distinctive silky voice again.

"She was on a lunch break and didn't want to interrupt your busy schedule" Nora strides into the office and hands me a small company note where she had written Bella's message on.

"Thank you Nora. Please pass the line to me if she ever calls again, with the exception to meetings or if I'm not in the office." I order, gaining a nod of agreement from her.

"She didn't have a lot to say if she wanted to leave a small message to your assistant." Lincoln says. "Weren't you the one to make the first move?"

"I did. I sent a bouquet of flowers to her apartment on Monday and invited her to dinner. This is probably her accepting my offer." I smile and open the note to confirm my suspicions.

 _Edward,_

 _I would like to thank you for the beautiful roses sent to me on Monday. That said, it was really nice to meet you at the Books for Cure event but I am going to have to decline your invitation for dinner. You deserve a nice evening and citing my honesty, my time will have to be invested in my professional life._

 _Have a wonderful day._

 _Att. Isabella Greene_

"Where will you make the reservation? There is new restaurant around Columbus Circle that will knock her socks off."

"There will no dinner to be had." I crumble up the note in my fist. "She rejected my offer for dinner." and throw it in the trash.

I look at Lincoln who couldn't bite his tongue any longer and started to laugh in a rather deafeningly tone.

"Wow! She said no!" He slaps his cheeks as if were waking himself up from a dream. "I can't believe I have witness a woman saying no to the great Edward Smith, the big billionaire and sex symbol."

"Cut the crap Lincoln" I had enough of his hounding attitude.

"But the question is why?" "What did you do to scare her?" He asks.

"It apparently has nothing to do with me. She wants to focus on her job."

"One woman has been able to bring out two major emotions out of you without even being near, those of obsession and rejection." "I already like her."

"Let's go before we're late" I decide to ignore his inquiries.

Bella was learning a thing or two about rejecting a driven man. If I wanted something or someone I am going to do everything possible to get her attention again and again until she gives into me. I wasn't going to be deterred by a simple note that she couldn't tell me on the phone or in person.

She was scared of what was to come with me and she should be.

 **Bella Pov**

"Are you sure I can't stay at home?" I say, currently sitting on the bed in only my bathrobe.

"Bella you better shut your pie hole before I make you wear something more revealing!" Rachel shouts from my closet, tired of my incisive arguing.

As prearranged by Rachel, Friday had finally arrived and we were now getting ready to go out. It was 11 pm and I was starting to feel the work hours on my body.

"Let's get you into this baby, show off some of that perfect cleavage." She throws a lavender blue cocktail dress on the bed that had a V-neck and thin straps.

"What if I wear some tight jeans and a nice blouse instead?"

"You have two minutes to get into that dress before I punch you in the neck" She leaves me to the task.

"Que niña tan terca! Ayudame dios mio!" I hear her say from outside my room which I only got a few words like 'girl' and 'help me god'.

I get into the dress and it hugs my body like a glove, much to my dismay the dress is so form fitting that I couldn't wear a bra making it a potential nightmare for a girl with big breasts.

"Your two minutes are up" She walks back in. "This is what I'm talking about!"

"Are you happy?" I say, jumping in front of my mirror to test the boob containment.

"You have made mama very proud" Rachel and I were part of the big chested club but I was the chosen girl to take one for the team. She was wearing a royal blue mesh transparent dress with cut outs on the shoulders and another short dress underneath with a U-neckline. Her hair was in a high braid, makeup was on point in greenish and yellow tones for the eyes, a blush pout and accessories consisted in gold long earrings and a black clutch.

"You get to wear a bra…" I complain.

"It's not a choice honey, my ladies needs to be standing up not sitting down to great the boys." She fixes my straps. "This makes your cleavage look bomb. Talk to me about the underwear situation."

"I'm wearing seamless panties" I grin at my own luck for having these in my drawers.

"Good. I'm not wearing any but that on the contrary was by choice." This girl was ready for the night.

"You would have made me go commando"

"Lucky you." She responds. "We have an hour before we need to head out so leave your hair down and put those feet in some sexy white heels."

"Yes Mistress." I joke.

"I feel like a dominatrix." With heels Rache was about 6 feet tall and ready to pounce.

"Laura! Becca! Doesn't our Bella look sexy as heel?" Laura and her girlfriend Becca join the fun in my room. "We need a lesbian's point of view."

"You look great Bells! Your boobs look fantastic" Becca says.

"Since this is coming from my lesbian viewpoint" Laura looks at Rachel. "I put my stamp of approval and would totally hit on you." Laura looked like the model that she was in a white long-sleeved cocktail dress that had a deep V-neck line going almost to her bellybutton. Her eyes were on 'fire' in red and orange tones, a nude lip but the best thing of all were her accessories, wearing a dragon jewelry earpiece for earrings and holding an alien spaceship clutch.

"Can we trade boobs" I confess to them since I had no support from Rachel.

"My small boobs hold themselves up on their own and don't get excited because I have to wear pasties, ripping them off later will be a spectacle to watch."

"How do you want us to meet up?" I see Rachel talking on her cellphone, to whom? I have no idea.

"Who is she talking to?" I point my head to her.

"I have no idea. She's been back and forth taking calls all night." Becca says. Rachel talking to people at 11:30 pm made me anxious.

"We are going to have dinner and then head there. Okay. Bye." She hangs up and looks at us. "What?"

"Who were you chatting with?" Laura inquires.

"Some friends will be joining us tonight at the club." She smirks. "And don't ask because you will only find that when we are face to face with them. It will be like a tiny surprise."

"I need a drink." was the only thing that came out of my mouth. Arguing with Rachel is useless at this point, I thought to myself. It's Friday and I could use this time to relax with my closest friends in the city that I love.

"That's my girl! Let's finish this up so we can finally leave."

After squeezing myself into the beautiful cocktail dress, I straitened my hair leaving the tips with some movement to show off the layers. I left my makeup rather simple compared to the girls, in pink and bronzy tones for the eyes and deep blush color for lips. My only accessories were my gold earrings, white clutch/purse and a pair of beautiful white Giuseppe Zanotti heels.

"Can you finally tell us where we are going?" I was already tired of Rachel's secretiveness. We were all inside the Uber that would take us to the undisclosed location.

"I just got a text from my boy toy therefore we will be going to Lavo." She says from the passenger seat.

"You do know its Friday. That place is always packed, plus, how are we are going to get in?" Laura explains.

"Don't worry. I have people in very high places. And I am offended by your doubtfulness, we look hot right now."

"Good thing we are the only hot women in New York City trying to get into a club." I loved Laura's sarcasm. She looks at the time. "At 1 am."

We got Lavo's and as expected, it had a huge line of people outside waiting to get in. Women were dressed to kill and the men just wanted the chance to get drunk and dance with these women.

"Well isn't it my little sister?" I hear someone shout out. It was my brother Gavin.

"Gavin?!" I was definitely surprised to see him but then again he was the party boy of the family, single and ready for the night to arrive. He had no one to tell him to act differently. He wasn't alone, having being accompanied by four other guys.

"Thank god you got here before us" Rachel says. Wait what? Did she know he was going to be here?

"What are doing here?" I ask as he hugs me and picks me up from the floor.

"Ms. Lopez called me earlier and told me if I wanted to join you guys. It was an invitation I couldn't pass on."

"Rachel!" I can't believe she would call him.

"What! Your brother is the best person to have for these kinds of things." She bites on her pointer finger as if she were a child who hid something from her parents.

"Can we get in already?! I need a drink and this conversation is doing nothing to make it happen."

"We should go somewhere else? This place is obviously full." I propose.

"Bella, it's like you don't know me at all. I am a regular here." He walks to the front and has a warming greeting with the nightclub bouncers. We all follow him as we gain access into the club.

"See… Your brother is the person in high places that we were looking for." Rachel pulls on my arm.

Once inside the music was really booming and people were all over the dancefloor, letting themselves go with the help of some drinks and the beat that was playing.

"This is our spot." My brother moves into a private booth that had a circular lounger and several end tables to put our drinks on.

We didn't waste and started to order drinks that a waitress would get us during the whole night.

"How much is this going to cost Gavin?" I shout out to him, this was VIP Treatment.

"Bella leave it to me. I do this all the time and I want to treat you and your friends. Rachel is already ready to go." I see Rachel placing a whole bunch of drink orders to the waitress.

"Gavin! What should we get?!" She screams out.

"Start with 2 bottles of Ace of spades champagne and a bottle of Belvedere vodka!" These two were dangerous together.

"I can't let you pay for this on your own." I start digging in my purse when he stops me and grabs my face.

"Bella, Have fun." He kisses me on the cheek. "The night is just starting…"

 **Edward Pov**

Ring… Ring… Ring…

I suddenly wake up after a hard day at the office with the sound of my cellphone ringing coming from my nightstand. It was Lincoln.

"What the fuck…" I reply.

"Edward, get the fuck out of bed and come to Lavo right now!" He shouts to mask the loud music playing behind him.

"I just got back from the office. Why the fuck would I go to the club at…" I look back at my clock. "2 in the morning."

"You are going to regret it if you don't..." He insists.

"And why is that?" I stretch.

"Because I see a very familiar person and let me tell you that she is looking mighty fine."

"Who?" I still wasn't getting the hints.

"Ms. Isabella Greene is here at Lavo at a VIP section." My ears perk up and I'm already in a sitting position on my bed, scaring Flynn with the sudden reaction.

"She's there"

"Yes and you are going to have to stop by because like I said before, she is looking very sexy and men are really taking notice. She is also with some friends that include some guys." What the fuck! She rejects my invitation for dinner but would prefer to go out with friends and dance with a whole bunch of assholes.

"Is she dancing alone?" I ask just for curiosity.

"No… She's been dancing with her girlfriends, however, she is slowly getting her drinks on so you better get dressed and get here now! Guys are already lining up to dance with her."

"Give me half an hour and keep an eye on her." I jump out of my bed wearing only boxers and march to my closet to get ready.

"Fine but hurry the fuck up." He replies as I hang up.

I dress in one of my casual suit, making sure everything was in place and grab my Rolex watch.

"It's not strange for you to see me going out at this hour." I pet Flynn who was exhausted after another day of daycare. "You have the bed all to yourself and I promise not to bring anyone back." I can't say the same thing if it were Bella I was bringing home.

I call reception to bring out my car and I walk out of the apartment to finally confront Bella in person. I got to the nightclub in my Ferrari 458 and caught the attention of the paparazzi. Not the best idea.

"Mr. Smith over here!" I have gotten use to the camera flashed through the years although it didn't make it any less annoying.

"Mr. Smith." The bouncer recognizes me and immediately opens the door to let me in.

The place was indeed packed but I was here on a mission and I wouldn't normally wake up in the middle of the night and head to the club.

"Edward my man!" I feel someone grab me. It was the owner Carlos.

"Hey!" we greet each other in the usual combination of handshake and one-armed hug.

"You're here right in time. The party is just getting started and tonight we have a great group of people." He shouts. His body was already accumulating a thin layer of sweat.

"Lincoln called me and I had to come!" I smile.

"Let me escort you to Lincoln's booth." He leads the way as I look around for a sign of Bella.

"Edward!" Everybody in the booth shouts. He was there with mostly friends we had in common.

"You took long enough!" Lincoln was already in the zone, drinking a glass a whiskey.

"Edward what would you like to drink my man? My girl Mandy is here to serve you with anything you want." Carlos points to the waitress who is ready to give more than a drink.

"I'll start with a glass of Cognac and go from there." I answer.

"Do you want me to bring you some girls? I think you need some company." He winks. The booth already had more than 10 people in it, some coupled and other just friends.

"Thank you my friend but I'm here because Lincoln called me to drop by. He did however told me that Isabella Greene is here." I launch an investigation to 'find Bella' in a crowded nightclub.

"Oh…" He smiles like a Cheshire cat, catching my intentions. "She is here, with her brother and some friends." "She is right other there at our other VIP section." He gestures towards the other side of the club and there in a corner I see her dancing with her friends. She was dressed in a tight fitting short dress that had a generous amount of cleavage and a decent slit on her thigh to show off her long legs. Lincoln was right. She looked too dangerous to be around men. Her hair was flowing and I started to feel a familiar tightness in my pants.

I needed to figure out how to get near here, right in that moment I see one of her friends (Rachel to be exact by what the files have told me) getting out of the enclosed space to head towards the bathroom giving me the chance to follow her. I wait for her to come out.

"Excuse me." I touch her arm.

"Hi" She turns back to me. I could see by the expression she gave at the sight of my face that she knew who I was. "What a coincidence to see you here Mr. Smith." She looks like a fireball.

"You know who I am huh?" I smile back at her way of manifestation.

"Of course Dr. Smith…" Yes she knew exactly who I was. "You are the man who saved my friend and sent amazing arrangement of flowers referring to yourself as Dr. Smith."

"I hope it wasn't an inconvenience Ms…." I extend my hand. I didn't want to seem like I already knew her name.

"Rachel Lopez" She takes it and shakes.

"Nice to meet you Rachel."

"What are you doing here Mr. Smith on this fine evening?" She asks.

"I am here with some friends and casually heard that Bella was here as well"

"Of course you did" She nods and crosses her arms. "Although a little creepy that you follow me to the bathroom."

"I'll do whatever I can to get close to Bella. As you probably already know, I invited her to dinner and got a rejection back."

"Trust me. That decision didn't come from me."

"I believe you so I need your help so I could talk to her and maybe change her mind."

"You're really interested in her." The best friend is doing her protective duties.

"It's the only reason why I'm here." I confess.

"Okay." "Let me see what I can do." "But let me warn you. If you hurt her in any way in the future I won't be able to forgive myself for bringing you towards her and I will kill you with my bare hands."

"I will give you the knife Ms. Lopez" I say, using her choice of words.

I see her walk back into her booth, talking to a couple of people on her and whispering to another girlfriend. Bella was busy drinking from her second cocktail of the night and dancing at the same time. I eventually get the signal from Rachel to the dance floor to surprise Bella. I position myself right in back of her, giving me a beautiful sight of her rounded rear.

"I'm going to sit down for a minute!"

"I'll go with you." She says.

"No! Stay here. I think someone is waiting for his dance."

"What?" She turns around.

"You can't say no to me now" I say.

"Edward! What are you doing here?"

"I like going out on Fridays too, as a matter of fact. I am willing to put my professional life aside for some fun time." I reminded her. She looked even more stunning now that I had her this near. All I wanted to do was to kiss her. She blushes, having no way to response.

"Are you stalking me?" She smiles.

"This is trap and now I am going to have you all to myself during the rest of the night."

"How are you so confident about that?"

"I don't take rejection very easily. I like getting my way and you are not the exception." I kiss her hand. "First, we are going to sit and have some drinks and then we are going to dance."

"Is that so?" She looked so sexy. I could ravage her right here, right now.

"Challenge me again and I will show you what I'm capable of" She lets me guide her to my section, although as the night progressed our two sections decided to be placed together in one big VIP area.

"Why did you say no?" I ask her as we sit together on the lounge chair. I had already taken off my jacket and rolled my sleeves up.

"Edward… I just don't think it's the right time."

"I want us to go out. Where's the harm in that?" I placed my hand over hers on top of her thigh.

"I just got out of a relationship and moved back into the city. Your intentions are clear to me and I have to say no."

"How could you possible know what I want?"

"I just do." She mumbles.

"What have you read about me?" I asked her since the press had written very elaborate pieces about me and my personal life.

"I didn't know who you were and it doesn't matter if I have read anything because I can just tell by how women look at you that it is easy for you to get what you want. I'm not that kind of girl and I don't have the time to entertain this idea."

"You think I want you for a one night stand."

"I think you want to have fun and you have every right to go searching for it somewhere else."

"What if I told you that search ended with you?" I tell her. She looks at me. "I haven't been able to get you out of my mind. Since the day we met, I knew we shared something special."

"You mean something sexual." She is challenging me but I wasn't going to back down.

"If you are on my mind every single day I think it's more than that."

"Edward…" She stands up and I join her to keep this conversation going.

"What if, one of the reasons was sexual?" I pull her body against mine, to put our mouths within inches of each other. "Is there really something wrong with that?"

"I don't know…"

"Then let's find out." I bend my head and kiss her.

 **Bella Pov**

I came here to dance the night away with my friends and end up seeing Edward again. Now we are kissing and I can't help but wrap my arms around his neck to bring him closer. This was my second encounter with him and I end up kissing the man that I had found so attractive.

" _My love is toxic and you're suicidal." ― Ahmed Mostafa_

* * *

 **Edward and Bella kissed.**

 **Vivian is truly the mastermind behind this whole thing.**

 **Vivian is manipulating Walter which in effect makes Edward another puppet in her game.**

 **Edward is saying very degrading things about Bella without measuring the future consequences it may bring him.**

 **Bella is having some instinctive feelings when it comes to Edward but what the eyes can't see, the heart won't feel.**

 **Rachel is a good friend.**

 **That was the chapter my friends. Some of you may think that it's too fast for them to be already kissing without even going on a date first but we are in different times and when you get the feeling, you get the feeling. You know what I'm saying :) Things in this story will evolve quickly among these two since we are talking about vengeance and retaliation.**

 **The next chapter will feature people's reaction at seeing these two kissing, mama Renee and sister Scarlett, and a conversation between Edward and Vivian that will seal the deal with him.**

 **Thank you for reading and please leave your reviews. I read every single one and really appreciate the time you put into them. I will upload another chapter in the next week or two.**

 **See you later!**

 **Love you all!**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: I do not own Twilight or the Characters :(**

 **Hi guys! Sorry for taking so freaking long to upload, I finally got the chance to sit down and bring you another chapter. We left off on a high note but now you can continue this journey.**

 **Check the pictures of this chapter on my blog you will find the link on my profile**

 **Please do not disturb**

 **Reading ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

 **Make it happen**

 **Edward Pov**

This kiss was exactly what I had foreseen and it scared the shit out of me. Her lips were so soft and erotic I couldn't help myself then to deepen it and let me just say I had to use all my will power to keep my hands from going to her ass since her lower back was giving me a sneak peak of the amount of curves she was gifted with.

 _A few moments before…_

 **Rachel Pov**

I have to say that my encounter with the elusive Edward Smith went great. I mean, the guy was hot as all hell and Bella needs some fun in her life. The man stopped me on my way to the ladies room and it is pretty obvious in my eyes that he had heard from inside sources that Bella was here tonight and if anyone would know it would definitely be him. This sexy piece of ass was one of the most powerful people in the city as far as I'm concerned.

"Can we get more Cîroc please?!" I practically had to shout at our server since the music was on full blast and this was just the start. It was peak hour.

"Rachel…" I feel someone grab my arm. It was Laura. "Who's with Bella over there?" she asks.

"That man so happens to be Mr. Smith. It looks like he's making his move on Bella and he essentially stopped me at the bathroom for permission." I watch them as they are talking on a lounge chair.

"What did he tell you?" She pulls me to a quieter spot so we wouldn't have to scream as much.

"He's interested in Bella. The girl didn't want to listen to me but ever since he sent those flowers to her I knew he wouldn't give up. He seems to have good intentions with her so I'm not worried. Plus, he his balls are my insurance if anything does go wrong."

"That's sweet. A lot of guys are assholes nowadays." Laura's new girlfriend Becca chimes in.

"I don't know… He just appeared out of nowhere. Don't you think it's kind of strange and stalker-ish." Laura alleges.

"Relax woman, I would never put Bella in an uncomfortable position. Perhaps it isn't a coincidence that he's here, the man owns New York and if he wants Bella then he going to get the information he needs to make it happen. I told her to accept his invitation to dinner but of course the two of you never do as I say. He's plainly bringing out the big guns."

"You guys…" I could hear Becca's voice in the background.

"That's what I'm apprehensive about. He probably thinks he can get anyone he wants at any time." Laura crosses her arms.

"Laura, She isn't getting eaten by the big bad wolf. Don't play prosecutor on something that hasn't even happened."

"I'm sorry to interrupt this bantering. There is something you both should see." She points her finger as our faces turn to take in the sight.

You have to be shitting me! My sweet Bella was making out with Edward two seconds after I was lecturing Laura about this whole encounter.

"Maybe she is getting eaten by the wolf and enjoying it." Becca tries to joke.

The kiss was H-O-T and it was full of passion. They already appeared like a couple and you could tell that the trust was there because she was letting his wrap his arms around her and her hands were in the same position around his neck.

"Rachel!" Laura shrieked as I on the other hand was amused.

"Let her be. She's having fun." I am feeling like a proud best-friend. "We should give them their space and have a couple of shots to celebrate." Laura just gawks at them. "Becca help me push this girl to the dancefloor." We both take each of her arms and drag her.

 **Bella Pov**

"Wait...we need to stop." I whisper as my mouth makes the necessary disconnection from his.

"But I don't want to..." He complains like a little boy which makes me smile inside.

"I think I'm feeling a bit too happy right now" I say, thinking it was time for me to put a limit on my alcohol intake.

"This place is paparazzi free. You don't need to worry about them." He guarantees me, but it wasn't the paparazzi I was worried about.

"People still have their phones though and I don't want to cause any rumors." I gaze around and at least everyone else was making it seem as if nothing had happen for my sake.

"Well isn't it my best-friend and Mr. Smith together again…" I turn to see and it was Vivian.

"Vivian, what are you doing here?" Of course I was surprised to see her here however in the same token these were the places she would frequent quite often.

"It's like you don't know me Bella, the weekend is here and I'm always scoping for what is happening in this city and by the looks of it…" She glances at Edward. "A lot is happening. Are you two together?" She asks without holding back.

"No!" I'm the first person to negate her inquiry. "We are both here by coincidence." I say, praying that she hadn't seen us kissing moments ago. Vivian is a good friend but her mouth can be very loose if it she had access to juicy gossip. "Laura and Rachel are here, and Gavin is here with some of his friends."

"That's great! I'll go say my hellos in a minute. I'm also here with some girlfriend's." She gushes as I can see her friends and they were all dressed like Amazonian models. "I'm so glad we came here. We can all hangout and party together! Let me just ask for some drinks."

"We have a server. You don't have to go all the way up to the bar." Edward suggested.

"You have it all figured out. Let me then grab my friends." She goes into the crowd and talks to her friends who were more than ready to come into the VIP section.

"I think I should go" I tell Edward.

"Why?" He looks at me. "Aren't you having fun?" He grabs my hand. "You don't have to worry about someone finding out about what just happened. I'll make sure that it doesn't come out of here."

"You can't control everyone here Edward."

"You worry too much." He lifts his hand to stroke my face. "Let's have some fun and see where it takes us." I just nod. "That's exactly what we are going to do. Let me get us some drinks, any request in particular?"

"A whisky Sour"

"My kind of girl" He smiles. "I'll be right back"

"Wait! I have to go to the bathroom"

"Fine, yet if you're not back in ten minutes don't you think for a second that I'm not capable of going in there to find you." I laugh but I could hear determination in his voice. I better not take my sweet time.

I sped into the ladies and it was packed with women who needed to pee or to fix their makeup.

"BOO!" Someone grabs me from behind as I waited for a stall to be available. "You have been naughty girl."

"Rachel! You scared the crap out of me." One girl comes out of a stall and I am quickly pushed into it by Rachel.

"Couldn't you wait for me outside." I contend.

"Drop your panties and start talking" She says, referencing to my need to pee. "Now speak to me… Should I take a cab home alone?"

"What do you mean?" I try to balance my body over the toilet.

"Is he a good kisser?" Shit she saw us.

"How much did you see?" the fact that she was watching me pee and demanding answers from me was just cruel.

"Enough to see him stick his tongue down your throat. I'm pretty sure a lot of people saw the five minute display."

"Oh god…" I finish up and pull my underwear back up. "It was mistake." I say while we stumbled out of the stall, catching the stares of several girls who were probably thinking we were having an intimate session.

"It was very hot if you ask me. I really thought he was going to eat you up right there." She claims.

"Rachel…" I shake my head and wash my hand before touching up my own makeup since most of my lipstick was 'mysteriously' absent.

"Exactly" She points to my lipstick. "You were enjoying it. Don't lie to me."

"I don't have to, He is a good kisser but then I made sure to stop it. Come on Rachel… I barely know the man."

"The entire world knows about Edward Smith! I've made out with nobody's compared to him, not to mention had sex with them." She exasperated.

"I must be living under a rock then because I am the one percent who doesn't know him like you do."

"We'll have to get used to having him around because I have a strong feeling that he isn't going anywhere soon." She notes.

"I am not going home with him Rachel" I shut down her insinuations.

"I'm not saying that you are but he is very interested in you so give it a chance and have fun with him. It doesn't have to be a forever thing."

 **Edward Pov**

After being with Bella for less than an hour I was starting to feel that this plan was going to be harder than I fucking thought. She was charismatic and undeniably beautiful which made me understand the reason by how Walter would be so adamant about her deceiving persona. I needed to concentrate my efforts on the goals and not let myself fall into her trap.

I walk up to our server to ask for some drinks. Maybe this will make her more relaxed and opened to me so I can make this "plan" work faster.

"Miss!" Shouting in this club was getting on my fucking nerves.

"Mr. Smith, what can I do for you?" She replies in a rather seductive way and it was something I had no time for.

"I need a whiskey sour, and a rum and coke."

"Right away Mr. Smith…" before she strolls away to get our drinks she makes sure to bend over in front of me to put up the empty glass from our table.

"She is ready to serve you in more ways than one." I turn around to find myself once again in the company of Bella's best friend Vivian.

"Oh hi Vivian, I was just getting some drinks for Bella and I. Do you want me to call her back?" I offer

"Don't worry about it Eddie, although I will ask you to pour me a glass of some out that Ace of Spades champagne cause I'm feeling kind of parched." She says, taking a seat on the lounge sofa.

I pour the glass and hand it to her.

"When was the last time you've served someone, Mr. Smith?" She inquires.

"It's been awhile" I laugh at her sharp nature.

"I can imagine." She takes a sip. "And I can really see that you are on Bella's beck and call. You are really into her."

"She's a beautiful woman and I would like to get to know her better." I decide to sit with Vivian since Bella's in the bathroom. "Let me take this time to once again apologize for the misunderstanding I put you in at the 'Books for Cure' event."

"Edward… There is no need to apologize. It can happen to anyone. Bella's has always been the IT girl so it's easy to be in her shadow."

"How long have you guys been friends?"

"We actually met in Chicago." She retorts. Wait. They met in Chicago? That means she knew about Walter. "We were actually roommates."

 **Bella Pov**

Checking my phone I saw that it was already 4 am and I was ready to go home.

"Rache I would love to continue this discussion but I think it's time I go home."

"Bella are you crazy?! Edward is getting you a drink right now and you're thinking about going home. He'll start feeling resentment towards you if you leave him hanging like this."

"I'll tell him that I've had a good time which I did." She huffs at my reply. "Rache I won't deny my initial attraction towards him however I want to focus on myself for a while." I place my phone back into my clutch to head out. "You can stay" I insisted.

"If you're leaving then I'm coming with you grandma but you are playing with scorching hot fire, I mean he is sizzling and I can guarantee you that he will not let you go far."

"We'll just have to see about that don't we?" I wink at her. The drinks are really getting into my blood stream, time for me to hit the sack.

"Ha-ha-ha I get it! You are starting to become flirtatious Bella"

"Don't be ridiculous Rachel" I try to keep a straight face but a grin was slowly starting to emerge.

"Flirtatious Bella is one of my favorite characters of all time." She starts jumping in her 6 inch heels. "You can't shut her down now! I knew it! I knew it! This was all bullshit!"

"Rachel calm down…"

"That's it!" she raises her arms. "We are talking when we get home."

"No we are not" I start getting the giggles.

"Let's go so you can say your goodbyes to Mr. Smith."

"His name is Edward you know."

"That's good that you know his name because I could bet you'll be repeating his name a lot if we don't leave." She alludes. Rachel was good at making suppositions.

We finally get out of the ladies restroom, talk to Laura and Becca who decide to stay and continue our journey to my brother to finally land on Edward who is at the lounge talking to Vivian.

"You're back" He instantaneously stands up.

"Yeah… It's getting late. Rachel and I have decided to call it a night." I say and by Edward's face I could tell that he wasn't happy.

"Can I at least convince you to stay?" He takes my hand and starts rubbing it with his thumb soft circles. "We can go somewhere else?" His voice was very convincing but then again I had to stay strong.

"No it's not that. I'm just tired."

"Can you help me convince her not to go?" He looks at Rachel.

"I tried my best. She is a tough cookie to crack." She shrugs her shoulders.

"Bye Edward. It was nice to see you again." I kiss his cheek, to then try and get my hand out of his grasp but he doesn't show signs of letting me loose.

"Go out with me." He persists.

"Edward…"

"One date."

My mind was definitely holding me back to make this decision.

"Maybe we can go out for coffee… I'll have to…"

"You are a lucky man today Edward. A maybe is a yes." Rachel interjects, "It was so nice to meet you." She is the first one to hug him and exchange kisses.

"Nice to meet you too, get her home safely." He kisses my hand and finally lets me go to make my grand escape.

We finally leave the club and by the time we get back to the apartment I was all set to crawl into my bed, but no, my chitty chatter box friend was ready to talk up a storm.

"Why did we have to leave Bella?"

"Can't we talk about this when the sun is up?" I manage to change into my pj's.

"No…." she sits on my bed uninvited while wiping her makeup off with a face wipe. "Bella, you were pretty hostile with Edward. That man was so into you!"

"How was I hostile?! I made out with him for crying out loud which is also it's something I regret."

"Really?…Seems to me you didn't trust yourself around him, especially when you had that attitude transformation when we were talking in the bathroom."

"I get the giggles when I drink. It doesn't mean anything."

"It sure does because just like with children there comes a moment when we show our true feelings as grown adults and you my friend were starting to show that flirtatious and fun Bella that I met in high school."

"I have always been that way." I say, hurt by her comment.

"Bella…" She breathes out and places her non wipe hand on my arm as I lay on the bed. "I'm so proud of you. You've been working your ass off since we graduated and with that you have the right to have fun every so often."

"I do have fun."

"Well it's hard to see that. Ever since you can back from Chicago I've seen a change in you and I'm questioning myself if this is about Walter."

"I really don't want you to bring this up Rachel."

"That's too bad because we are going to talk about him. What happened to him has nothing to do with you. The fact of the matter is that you are having a hard time trusting a man and I can totally understand that, I mean at least you didn't love him."

"I wanted to love him Rachel. In that time in my life, I really wanted to create a sincere relationship and I ended up getting burned. What happened to him did not have a direct involvement with me but I still have that guilt since the day my dad accepted the job to inculpate him." In every phase of my life I've felt toyed with by men.

"You can't put every man on trial Bella. Tonight for the first time I saw you having fun with Edward and not to mention the kiss you shared with him had me jealous of you." She takes my head into her hands and makes me look at her. "I'll just tell you that the only reason Edward was there was because he heard that you were there." She confesses.

"But…How?"

"It was thanks to my poor blatter. Making my way to the ladies room I ran into him and he was searching for you. It was literally what he told me when we spoke to each other. To my viewpoint you left the man bewitched after that charity event."

"I've read about him Rachel. Women either love him or hate him for leaving them after their passionate one night stands."

"But why are you constructing your sentence on him based on what the tabloids have written about him? Give yourself a chance to get to know him better. Go out with him, have sex and then comeback so you can tell me all about it." She always manages to ruin a serious moment.

"I'm not having sex with him on the first date."

"You never know.' She winks at me. "I'll leave you so you can go to sleep but I don't want to see this attitude from you Isabella. You are a terrific woman and it would be an honor for any man to have a fighting chance with you."

"How will he know where we live? I didn't give him my number or my address" I lift my eyebrow at her.

"Oh honey…Edward Smith always has his ways of finding that shit out. Love you." She blows me a kiss and closes my bedroom door.

 **Edward Pov**

"Mr. Smith, here are your drinks." The server finally comes back with the drinks but why would I fucking need them now since Bella is no longer here.

"Thank you. I'll take this." Vivian takes the whiskey sour that was meant for Bella from her. "Let's get a round for everyone." She twirls her finger to invite everyone with us at the VIP section. "Care to join me outside?" She stands up.

"Sure" I accept still frustrated at Bella's dismissal towards me.

Lavo doesn't count with an outdoor space inside the club but we managed to find a space where we could get some fresh air.

"You smoke?" She asks, pulling out from her clutch a box of cigarettes.

"Occasionally." I reply

"Here." She hands me one. "You need one."

"Is my appearance of rejection that noticeable?" I accept as she laughs at my struggle.

"She's playing hard to get, that's all."

"Does she have a boyfriend I should know about?" I decide to resume out conversation that was disturbed by Bella's departure.

"No…. Bella is as single as they get. She had a boyfriend back in Chicago but they recently broke up." When she said that the only person she could be talking about was Walter.

"Is he famous?" I drag on my cigarette.

"Oh no Mr. Smith…" She shakes her head. "You will have to ask Bella for yourself about him. The only thing I can say is yes, plenty of people are aware of him."

"I understand and again call me Edward."

"Being in the presence of one of the city most powerful men can make anyone call you by your full name, still if your insisting then I will and I hope you do the same thing for me."

"Of course, you are best friends with the woman I'm captivated with so I am hoping to be in your good graces."

"And you are." She retorts, pressing her lips once again to the drink on her left hand.

"Can you tell me more about her so I'll have better luck next time?" What better material source than from her best friend.

"I'm sure you have more than enough information on her."

"I may know the fundamentals but this is coming from a person that is always by her side." I take another drag. "Is she really playing hard to get?"

"What can I say Edward. It's not strange for men to be standing in line for her. She is cognizant of the own power she poses over them and is very picky. You for example are the picture perfect man she wants and has been waiting for."

"Why do you say that?"

"It's simple. You're handsome, thus there's a certain expectation for her to be surrounded by good-looking people and then there's the fact that you're extraordinary affluent."

"She likes wealthy men?" This was something I had already cultivated in my mind.

"Let me clarify this Edward before you get the wrong idea. She is just used to a certain kind of lifestyle."

"She lives in Brooklyn but all of that is temporary while she finds someone who can meet the expense of maintaining her. The man has to be as financially set as her family. It's more of a personal presentation thing if anything." She finishes her cigarette. "Are you up for the challenge?"

"Do you think I am?"

"I think you can accomplish anything you put your mind into. You have those two things…oh wait." She pauses. "Are you a jealous person by nature?"

"Only with the things that I consider are mine."

"Because she is a flirtatious person and will test you every step of the way. Don't worry. It's only to see how far you're willing to go to keep her. She loves a possessive man. I think it's a common trait women are afraid to admit."

"I'm ready to do anything for her."

"That's sweet and don't worry, this will stay between us and I will help you with anything you need. Bella deserves love and you seem like the right guy who will give it to her."

"I'll be the right guy if that is what she needs."

 **Bella Pov**

 _A week later…_

After another week of work and home life it was once again the weekend and I hadn't heard or seen Edward since our encounter at Lavo. The conversation with Rachel left me thinking about him and I was finding it hard to block him out of my mind.

"Bella…Bella… Wake up princess…"

"No…" I feel the touch of my wild roommate. "Rache it's Saturday…. Leave me alone."

"You need to get ready. We are going to have a rather exciting day." She opens up my eye lids to the rising sun. It must be early and it was stranger to find her awake at this hour.

"Are you planning these things last minute?" I roll over to face the ceiling, still with my eyes shut.

"You could say that. And it's my duty to get you ready to go." She pulls the warm covers off of me. "Come on."

When I do get the energy to get up and drag my body into the bathroom, my mind was still questioning the reason to her unexpected plan for the day.

"Is this a surprise? Cause I don't really find your surprises too appealing. Why aren't you ready?" I ask while I finish doing a simple braid on my hair. Rachel actually chose my outfit which wasn't weird because she was already the type of person that would sneak into your closet. The dress for our infamous club outing was one of many examples. Thankfully for today she had elected a stone blue blouse that was off the shoulders with rolled sleeves and had a bow strap around the waist, a pair of white jeans and for the accessories went for everything gold from the earrings to the Michael Kors watch.

"It's a great surprise. Let me see your makeup." she approaches me in her bathrobe. "I say we need a nice nude to make that pout irresistible."

"You still haven't answered my question." I say in intervals as she paints the color 'sandstorm' by NYX on my lips.

"No te lo puedo decir."

"Don't talk to me in Spanish. It's almost 7:30 am. What's going on?" I press on. Subsequently her phone rings as she says sentences like 'we're ready' and 'I'm sending her down'.

"Okay. You are all organized. Your bag has everything you need, makeup for touching up, wallet, phone and sunglasses."

"What do you mean? Aren't 'we' going somewhere?" I indicate to us both. "Who's downstairs?"

"Why don't you look out the balcony and see for yourself?" She moves to let me solve the mystery. A mystery that I kind of didn't want to find out knowing how she is.

I manage to get the courage to open the sliding door and verge over the rail to see the bottom. It was Edward. He was there leaning against a car (seemed to be a grey Aston Martin) staring straight at me with his eyes hidden behind black sunglasses as his bright smile was on full display. The shock of the whole thing made me go straight back in.

"Rachel! What?! How?!" I had so many questions.

"I told you he had his ways." She grins. "He actually got ahold of my number from his minions and called me while I was at work yesterday, asking if I would help him do this surprise. The man was incredibly persuasive and I couldn't say no so I made sure you were up and ready by the time he arrived." She admits.

'There is no way! Are you crazy Rachel?!" In that moment of me berating her, I felt my purse shake. I was the one getting a phone call. It was from an unidentified number.

"Answer it for me." I try to hand it to her which she refuses to do.

"Bella be a big girl."

"No." I barely get my finger to the red button when Rachel gets her finger in first and presses the green one instead. I give her the glare of death.

"Hello?"

"Hello beautiful." His voice came out deep and as silk as you can ever imagine. "I hope Rachel didn't wake you up too early."

"Edward what on earth are you doing here?"

"You've been asking me that question a lot lately. At the club you promised me a proper date and I'm ready for that promise to be fulfilled." He declares.

"Your memory must be off since I didn't promise you a date. I told you we could meet up for coffee."

"We are going out for coffee. Are you afraid?"

"I'm afraid of what you have planned." I smile at our back and forth conversation.

"Come down and let me show you."

I bite my lip in keenness and straightforwardly give up. "I'm only going for the coffee. Don't expect more." I tell him and with that I hang up.

"He has to be one of the hottest pieces of ass I've seen. A master piece for sure." Rachel moves the curtains just enough to see him with binoculars (I have no clue why she binoculars in the first place). "When can I expect you to be home?"

"Soon." I state. "It's only coffee." I pick up my satchel to place it on my shoulder and sauntered to the door.

"He's definitely not letting you go after coffee. I wish you good luck though! Love you!" She doesn't even take the few seconds to look back. On the contrary, she gives me a wave with one hand.

I had only a few minutes to calm down in the elevator as I made my way towards Edward. He was still leaning against his car and stood straight the moment we came face to face.

"Hi" I formally greet him since it's not the same talking to him on the phone than in person.

"You look stunning." He opens his car door so I could sit on the passenger side. This car was certainly luxurious and probably cost way more than what I had in my bank account. I think it was combination of the car and him wearing a brown leather jacket and sunglasses that made him seem like a mature James Dean.

"Thank you. I had to speed through my routine since somebody doesn't take 'NO' for an answer." I say while placing on my own sunglasses. "Stubborn should be your second name."

"Close. My middle name is actually Alexander but we will get into it during breakfast. I want to know everything about you which includes that job of yours that made you reject my initial invitation."

"I was merely being honest."

"I know. You also included that word in the card." He remarks, making me blush at his good memory.

We eventually get to our breakfast spot and it was a place I wasn't familiar with which I guess was normal since New York City was a hot bed for eating spots.

"Good Morning! Welcome to Sadelle's" The hostess was more than animated when she saw us come in. The place was reasonably full since it was Saturday and it was mostly comprised by adults.

"Good Morning. Table for two." He smiles at her.

"Of course. Would you like to be seated upstairs or on the ground floor?" She asks.

"I think it would be better if we were on the second floor, preferably in a private corner." He answers, acknowledging the fact that the paparazzi were most likely to take pictures of us.

"No problem. Follow me please." She understands the situation and guides us to our table. The restaurant was esthetically pleasing with fresh flowers decorating some tables and exposed brick walls that showed the old mixed with the new.

"Would you like something to drink to start?"

"Coffee?" Edward teases me while eyeing the menu.

"Good suggestion however I think I'll go with a grapefruit juice."

"And for you sir?"

"A dark roast." She writes it down and leaves to give us time to pick our meal.

"Now that I have you all to myself I want to know why I haven't seen you around."

"You need to have everyone in your radar." I cite.

"Exactly and you are the most striking woman I have ever laid eyes on." He says, causing me to blush. "Tell me your life story from the beginning and don't miss a single thing."

I didn't have to tell him a lot about my life but being around him made me feel relaxed and protected. A man like him had tricks under his sleeve in order to get information out of you and boy did he practice them to me.

"I also have two brothers, Gavin and Adam, and my sister Scarlett. How about you?" I ask as I enjoy my grapefruit juice.

"I have a brother named Emmett and a fervent sister, Alice. They are both married and between them I have five nieces and nephews. I love them to death." He describes each and every one of them.

"That's sweet. I also have six nieces and nephews." As the conversation went on I did find a lot of similarities with his family dynamic and mine.

"I try to always find a way to spend time with them. Sometimes it's hard." He says.

"I guess your job must be very important. A lot of people here can't take their eyes off of you." I highlight the several customers and even employees that were glancing at us once in a while.

"I don't believe that they are looking at me." His eyes narrowed at mine in a way to show me his awareness towards me. "I don't think my job is as interesting as yours at the museum."

"I only started less than a month ago but I'm enjoying my time there and I'm learning a lot too."

"I can imagine. I also appreciate contemporary art. It's actually something my parents and I invest on."

"Oh wow!" I get excited by his revelation. "What are some of the pieces that you own?"

"I have paintings by Mark Rothkos and my parents have one by Jasper Johns that I gave them for their anniversary. It's called 'Fertile Lands'." I couldn't believe what he was saying, those artists were legends and I remember studying that specific painting in college. It was sold in Christie's for 30 million dollars to a private buyer.

"I'm in love with those artists." I almost choke on my juice. "I think they are two of the most influential artists that have ever existed. Your parents must have been so happy with their gift."

"My mom has it on display in their living room. It's the only one she had wanted to keep. They like to donate some pieces to the museum."

"Your parents are unbelievably philanthropic, when I met them at the 'Books for Cure' event they were ready give anything for those libraries."

"My mother really likes those types of events and she certainly loved you too." He smiles. "One thing I have learnt over the years is that moms are always right about the women they meet."

I could talk to him forever and it was terrifying because I felt that was guard was crumbling every second I was with him.

 **Edward Pov**

Focus Edward. Don't get distracted by her angelic voice and sinful body. This woman is pure evil and she is playing hard to get on purpose so you can bend over backwards just like Walter. Vivian told you that she would test you in every way and would see how far you are willing to go for her. Notice how her eyes brightened up when you were talking about those incredibly expensive paintings you have, she is already calculating your bank account and faking her obliviousness to your notoriety.

After eating breakfast I moved swiftly to not let her think I was dropping her home. I drove us to the next spot but not before strolling through a small park to get there.

"I would like to collect some pieces of my own one day. Don't mind me asking but how old were you when you started your company?" Her hands were secured on her bag as I was figuring out a way to touch her.

"I was 25 when I started the company and this year is its 10 year anniversary. I turn 35 in July." Her eyes open in amazement. "That makes me ten years your senior. Is that a problem?" I seize the opportunity to take her hand as her chest lifted at the sensation. Her cleavage was magnificent and a definite distraction.

"No! I just didn't expect for the gap to be…"

"That big." I finish her statement without letting her hand go and in disbelief on my behalf she doesn't fight it. "I don't think it's a problem if both of us want this."

"Edward this is moving fast. This was only supposed to be coffee." She stops in her tracts and runs her free hand through her hair. Why was she so inflexible about us? Was this about Walter? Does she still love him? Or was all of this to fucking bust my balls.

"I don't want it to be only about coffee Bella."

"We barely know each other Edward. I just got back from Chicago and adding to that I just got out of a bad relationship." Wait! I got a hint about her past! This was about Walter!

"Why can't you give me a chance? I dream about you almost every night and most of it is about the kiss we shared at the nightclub before you left me. You left me to be eaten alive by the women that were around." I see a little grin making its appearance from her face. "I don't see how that's a problem for you Edward."

"Well it is when the only person I wanted to be with was you."

"Edward you are accomplished person. The reason why I was surprised at your age is because you have had the time to focus on your career and not worry about anything else. I've wanted to do the same thing but I was in a relationship that refused to let me do that back in Chicago." Again with the fucking blame game on Walter. She was milking the fact that Walter allegedly didn't want her to work which I find to be pure horse shit. I needed to show her that with me it wasn't going to be that way, even though I'm pretty sure that when we get together the only thing she will be milking is my credit card. The hypocrisy of her arguments was blowing my mind.

"Give me one chance." I pull her close to me, so close that I didn't want her to be able to think straightly. "Let me show you that I won't interfere in your work life. Please…" I press my lips on her the side of her head and cheek, building my way towards her lips and this time I wanted the paparazzi to see us. "I've never felt this way before for anyone and I don't know what you've read about me."

"This is our first date. People are going to think this is way too fast. Perhaps if we start dating casually…"

"I don't want to start dating casually. I want you to be mine and in your heart I know you want to be with me too."

"Edward…" My head was buried in her hair and without noticing it we managed to be pressed up against a tree. Her hands were on my arms and mine were around her waist. We both had our eyes shut but I opened mine to get me out of the sweet intoxicating smell of her hair and skin. I instead make my attack on her lips. My lips are over hers in a feverous manner, dragging each movement deeper and deeper to where my mouth was granted entrance to feel her tongue against mine and her taste was as sweet as everything else about her. The responsiveness was so intense that I could feel her nipples harden against my firm chest. Thank the fuck I had my leather jacket was open to receive such a reaction from her body and I was sure she could feel my reaction as well poking at her abdomen.

I suddenly forget where we are and separate my lips so they could travel all over her neck to her ear. "I want you…." I say, causing her to whimper. I trap her lips once again before finally getting the strength to let us both breathe.

"One chance." I take her chin. Her lipstick was almost nonexistent and the bareness showed the light pink tone I had inflicted by the pressure I was putting on her lips. The same tones were on her normally rosy cheeks.

"Okay." She finally accepts and now things were really going to take shape.

"You won't regret it." I kiss her one more than in a gentle approach before leading her to a building with the closest bathroom so we can both freshen up. The paparazzi will certain have a field day with those pictures and for the first time I was glad they would. Being a man I was the first to finish and wait for her outside.

"Have I told you how beautiful you are?" She strides straight towards me.

"A couple of times." She smiles. "Do I look somewhat normal?"

"You are everything but normal looking."

"I'm so embarrassed." She presses her forehead on my shoulder as I hug her. "Do you think someone saw us?"

"I won't lie and tell you they didn't but who the fuck cares. You have agreed to give our relationship a shot and now you are mine."

"After one date, what if they call me a slut?" She lifts her face to look at me. "I don't want people to get the wrong image."

"Bella, this was something bound to happen. It's been boiling over since we met. If anyone is even brave enough to call you that then consider them gone from the face of the earth because I will beat the living shit out of them."

"I don't want our relationship to become a spectacle. We are going to start to date and I love my privacy."

"What do you mean? You think I'm going to ruin that for you." I narrow my eyebrows in displeasure.

"No! It's not you. It's just that no one really knew me before. I'm not the most famous person in my family and I enjoy that."

"I don't want you to have anxiety about those things Bella. Let's see where this can take us and go step by step. Make the sacrifice for us."

"I guess…" She is already having her hesitations again and I can't let her reverse all the effort I've made to get to this point.

"Come along." I pull her against me since I had another surprise for her.

"Are you taking me home?" She takes the chance to joke at me.

"I'm taking you somewhere we can escape these paparazzi you're so afraid of." I say as she finds my announcement a bit confusing.

 **Bella Pov**

Making the decision to be with Edward was a risk and a rather unexpected move from me. It's crazy to think that only yesterday I was refusing to be with this man in any form, not to mention the fact that I had only met him three weeks ago. It was impulsive gamble but Edward was different. He was unlike anyone I have ever met or been with before and for the first time in my life I wanted to explore what my heart wanted and not what my mind saw fitting. The kiss by the tree made me realized what I had been missing, Passion. A feeling that was unexplainable and didn't need to be reasoned with, I felt it when he kissed me and I was more than willing to drown in it.

"Where are you taking me?" There came a point in our walk where he decided to cover my eyes with his hands as I take ahold of his arm so I wouldn't trip.

"It's a surprise…" He whispers as I feel a tingling sensation course through my body in anticipation. We finally make a halt and the surprise was unveiled.

"Welcome to the Brooklyn Senior Chess Club." He says and I could not be more interested in this man until now. The place was packed with elderly men and women playing chess in a rather zealous style. They were screaming and laughing and it appeared as everyone was having a good time.

"Edward! Ready to lose money?" An elderly man treads towards us with a cane in hand, a flat cap on his head and an eccentric personality. He ultimately stops talking when he sees me next to Edward with our hands held.

"And who is this?" He grabs my hand and kisses it. "Mademoiselle." He utters.

"Arthur, this is Bella. Bella, this is Arthur."

"Isabella. What an enchanting name."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Arthur." I reply.

"Are you here to see me? Or are you with this old man?" he points the cane at Edward who laughs.

"Arthur we are here to play chess. Are you up for a match or should I help you to your chair so you can watch instead?" He taunts him. "Have you played before?" He asks me.

"No. My dad loves to play but I'd like to learn."

"You should learn it from me. I've been taught this kid everything he knows. He requires it if he wants to be the best of the best in the cold hearted world of business."

Arthur has his own table with his name engraved in it and he lets me sit on the opposing side so he can start teaching me.

"I'm getting a call. Let me take this." Edward tells us as he kisses my forehead. "Don't let him cheat." he directs his attention at Arthur who rumbles "nonsense." and shoos his away with his wrinkly hand.

"I need to tell my father about this place. He would love it." I scan around.

"Bring him here so I can beat him down and build him up again. This place is on a private lot, that's why Edward comes here. I make sure his humility comes right back down after he works all day and acts like the king of New York.

"I'm glad to be here."

"You are a beautiful girl, it's no wonder he brought you here so he could show you off."

"You probably say that to every girl he brings Arthur." I deny.

"Oh no lovely, you are the first one."

 **Edward Pov**

I had to leave for a quiet place since the incoming phone call so happen to be a call from Vivian. I gave her my number to call me but I wasn't expecting her to call me today.

"Hello Vivian."

"Hi Edward. How are you?"

"I'm good."

"I'm glad. I am calling because I was trying to reach Bella but she isn't answering her phone. I called Rachel and she told that she was with you."

"Yes. She is with me."

"Yay! How is it going?"

"It's going great." I look back at Arthur's table and I see her giggling uncontrollably. "She has agreed to give me a chance."

"Oh I'm so happy for you guys! So you're officially together!"

"We are testing it out but yes."

"We should all go out to dinner! Are you free next weekend?"

"Um Vivian definitely later on in the future, for the time being we want see how this will progress."

"No problem Eddie, nonetheless consider me as you guys' number one fan."

"Thank You for the support. I have to go but thank you for calling. I ask you to not mention this to Bella I would preferably have her tell you all about it herself."

"Not a peep from me. I'll talk to you lovers later. Hugs and kisses." She hangs up before I can even say another word. This woman was helping me but that didn't change her exasperating behavior.

"That didn't take long. Business?" Arthur asks me as I make it back to the table.

"Yes. Is he a good teacher or what?" I stand behind Bella and place my hands on her shoulders.

"I'm soaking it all in." She says.

"Good answer. She's a keeper." He gives me the thumbs up. "Time for your first practice example Isabella, let me show you how it's done. Take a seat Smith."

"I would let you win Arthur but I can't afford to be bad in front of my lady." I take on his offer as Bella gives up her seat. The game lasted about two hours and it wasn't a good one for me.

"Better luck next time kid. Hand it over." He lays his hand in front of him as I take out my wallet and pay him the hundred dollars due.

"I hope you to see again Bella. There is a lot I want to show you so you can have the same satisfaction of defeating this guy." He kisses her on the cheeks and pats my back. "See you in two weeks?" he asks as I nod in approval.

Immediately after parting with Arthur and the Chess Club I decided it was time for us to get a late lunch. We go to an Indian restaurant and by the time we made our exit the sun was starting to set to make room for the evening.

"This has been great Edward. Thank you." We are currently in the car driving to our final location but she thought I was dropping her off at her apartment.

"I'm pleased." I grab her hand and kiss it. "There is one more thing I want us to do so we can end the day on a high note."

"I don't think I can't take another surprise. The last one is pretty up there."

"You'll see" I assure.

I parked at our destination and give her my jacket since she had forgotten to bring one from home and temperature had dropped to the mid 50's.

"Aren't going to get cold?" The jacket was a bit large for her petite body but she was still the most stunning woman I have ever seen.

"You will keep me warm. It's a win win situation." I embrace her so we can be as close and humanly possible. She still had no idea where we were but the moment came soon enough.

"Mr. Smith, ready for take-off." A man appears.

"Ready for takeoff?" Bella says with an expression of bewilderment on her face.

 **Bella Pov**

When the man told Edward that they were ready for take-off and didn't expect it to be a helicopter ride!

"Oh my god!" I shriek at Edward who helps me to get buckled into the aircraft.

"Is this 'up there'?" he says referring to my previous comments.

"I'm in a loss of words."

The ride was one of the greatest experiences in my life. This was my first time riding a helicopter and viewing the city at sunset. When I first rejected Edward I thought he was just like any other man, someone who was a playboy and only focused on his money and fame. My instincts were totally wrong. He was turning out to be a person that I could have a strong and solid connection with.

The tour was approximately a half hour and Edward was kind enough to explain every single building and street. It turned out that the helicopter was his and though he is the person who would normally fly it he decided to stay by my side to share the moment with me.

"Are you sure you don't want to have dinner at my place?" he says as we now stand outside my apartment.

"No…" I fix the collar of his jacket. "If I go along with you I'll distrust your motivation to bring me back." He rolls his eyes even though he knows that what I'm saying is true.

"How about tomorrow?" He kisses me.

"I already have plans with my mom and sister. They will be expecting some answers and I have to be prepared. My phone has been off but I probably have more than one missed phone call." I take out my keys.

"I'll call you this week." He caresses my cheek. "A kiss for the road." I move my head to receive the kiss and it was as passionate as the one we gave each other at the park. It was actually getting out of hand so I made the judgment for us both to end it.

"See you later beautiful." I watch him as he walks to the elevator and fades in the middle of the metal doors. I turn my attention back to the door as I felt some movement coming from inside.

"Bella you're home! How did it go?" Rachel asks me while reading a magazine with Laura that they had probably picked out less than two seconds ago to distract me from the obvious sign that she and Laura were spying on Edward and I through the peep hole.

"It went fine. We had a good time. Now if you'll excuse me I am going to take a shower." I move slowly to my room and not a minute goes by when they barge in.

"I can't take this shit. We were spying on you and the pictures are all over the place. Spill the beans Greene!" Rachel demands and that's when I knew my day wasn't over.

* * *

 **Bella and Edward are together! Let the adventure begin!**

 **Vivian is the worst supporter to have for a potential relationship.**

 **Edward is already having mixed emotions about Bella.**

 **Will Bella regret giving him a chance?**

 **How will both of their families react to seeing them together this soon?**

 **I missed you guys sooo much and I'm soo happy to be back. It's been a complicated year but I love this story so much that I couldn't abandoned it anymore. Thank you again to everyone who has reviewed, commented, followed or added this story to their favorites. Renee and Scarlett are not featured in this chapter since I want to focus the next chapter on everyone's reaction to this news. You can already tell that Bella is going to fall hard for Edward and Edward will start developing the same feelings even though he has revenge on his mind.**

 **I will hopefully be more consistent with my uploads and this time for sure there will a new chapter in less than two weeks.**

 **Reviews, reactions and opinions are always welcomed. I really take them into consideration and they really motivate me to continue delivering each chapter. I also read every single private message that is sent to me so feel free to do that as well.**

 **I love you all!**

 **See you soon!**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: I do not own Twilight or the Characters :(**

 **Please do not disturb**

 **Reading ;)**

 **Hey guys. Welcome back hahaha or you should welcome me back. It's been a hot minute since I last uploaded and I don't put the blame on anyone else but myself and I accept full responsibility of this absence. There have been changes in my life that couldn't be ignored and there came a moment in which I felt so lost that I couldn't even write. I wasn't inspired and when that happens I end up creating mediocre content. I took the time and now I feel like I'm back better than ever and ready to hopefully give you a great story that you can dedicate a little part of your time too during the day or night. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support and to just acknowledge your patience.**

 **Check the pictures of this chapter on my blog. Link is on my profile.**

 **Chapter 7**

 **Start the Mania**

 **Bella Pov**

When I woke up this morning I thought what happened yesterday was part of a dream, and it certainly was. I didn't really go to sleep early due to the peaked interest of my two best friends who wanted every single detail, including specifics on the pictures of us kissing in the park which were already circulating on all of the gossip and news websites. Needless to say, I went to bed around midnight and now these two crazies think that I am going the distance with him. I must clarify that I got the most enthusiastic reaction from Rachel. Laura, on the other hand, was hesitant and made sure to tell me to be careful since everything was going so quickly.

"It's fucking freezing outside" Rachel closes the balcony door as if something infectious was coming to get her.

"Are you sure you're a New Yorker?" I ask her with a noticeable sarcastic tone of voice while pulling up the zipper on my thigh high boots. Today was Sunday and as I told Edward the day before, I had plans for lunch with my mom and Scarlett. "It's 50 degrees Rache, we should be thankful. It means that warmer weather is just around the corner."

"My Dominican blood is too spicy for this weather. I should be lying in the hot sun, getting my ass tanned." She walks past me and heads for the kitchen to retrieve her hot ramen from the microwave.

"Don't you have another date today?" I wiggle my eyebrows. Rachel had a second date with a man that she had met on tinder, he seemed like a good guy and he is hot as fuck to put it in her words.

"He has dinner reservations for us at this expensive place but I think I'm just going to invite him over to the apartment so we can have takeout and watch a movie."

"Expensive place?" She is really narrowing it down with that description. New York is one of the most expensive cities in the world.

"I know right? He has his life together which is always great but the temperature is expected to drop into the low 40's."

"Rachel… You are going to dinner with him to dinner and I do believe you can wear a sweater and a pair of pants to keep you warm."

"Fine…" She slurps her noodles. "I do hope that warmer weather is coming because I'm ready for the summer. Is there any chance you can tell your boyfriend to make it happen? He does have the money to move the sun."

I stand up to rearrange my green dress. "How many times do I have to tell you that we have decided to exclusively date. He is not my boyfriend." Since it was cold I decided on a long green dress that would cover my legs and a toasty leather jacket. I left down my long hair in wavy curls to also keep me warm. As for accessories I decided on the color black for everything, from my long earrings to my bag and my sunglasses since it was a still a beautiful sunny day. My makeup was simple in pink.

"Sure…" She mumbles. "Hugs and kisses to your mom and Scar." She blows an air kiss my way to which I blow one back before heading out.

I took a cab to take me to the restaurant and did notice two to three cameramen who were following me and trying to take my picture. This is exactly what I didn't want. By the time I got to the place the number of paparazzi had jumped to about ten of them that were lined up outside. Rosemary's was a restaurant in the Greenwich area and very popular on Sundays.

"Bella! Bella! Are you with Edward Smith?!"

"Bella! Congratulations on nabbing the most eligible man in America!"

The shouts were in full force and quite intimidating since this was the first time in my life I was subjected to this kind of scrutiny and spotlight. I didn't know how to react and I knew they were here because they were tipped off since my mother and sister were here as well, I'm sure my mom is used to this but I, on the other hand, wasn't ready. I didn't have a bodyguard to lead me into the establishment but luckily a man from the restaurant saw me and came to my aid.

"Guys we told you to back up! Now do it before we call the police. This place is for our clients to feel safe and you're making tough for them to come in our doors." The man says as he gives me a reassuring push. Once inside, I felt a couple of eyes on me, distracted from their own meal and conversations by the madness that was happening right outside.

When we got to my table I could already see my mother's cold face and my sister who was just amused by the whole thing. The surprising face I saw was that of my niece Daphne who was looking very grungy with her outfit. It was obvious she choose her clothes since her mother's style is somewhat the opposite with neutral colors and the signature red bottom Louboutin nude heels.

"Hi…" I said in a cautious manner with the intention of not provoking the lion.

"Auntie Bella!" Daphne jumps off her chair to greet me.

"Hello, my little daffodil. I didn't know you were going to be here." I pick her up to kiss her on the cheek.

"Mommy is gonna take me to the toy store today."

"Wow again…" I feel like they are taking her to the toy store every other day. I place her down and move to kiss Scarlett.

"She was begging to go with Lorenzo to the Restaurant but you know how busy Sunday's are for him so to avoid a toddler meltdown we are going to the toy store." We kiss. "Avoiding crisis is my job for a living after all." Scarlett is a management and crisis analyst.

"I'm painting Moana." She proudly lifts up her uncompleted masterpiece, coloring the Disney princess in a coloring book dedicated to the movie. "Grandma loves it." She says dragging the word "love" off her tongue. I look at my mom who was still waiting for me to say something to her because it was evident she was not starting the conversation herself, therefore, I placed my jacket behind the chair and sat down for the scolding worthy for toddler like Daphne but I would rather have that then pure silence because there is nothing worse than to have your parents not scream at you and choose to only give you the cold shoulder.

"Mom, say something." Ignoring me once again she signals to one of the waiters for a request.

"Excuse me. Can I have a glass of the Scarbolo Pinot Grigio."

"Of course. And what can I get you, ladies?"

"I'll also have the Pinot Grigio." Scarlett asks asking for a glass of apple juice for Daphne.

"I'll have the Lambrusco Rosé." I give the waiter a smile to mask what was happening between mother and daughter. He was smart to leave once our orders were placed.

"Mom, don't ignore me." I reiterate my desire for an exchange of words and that's when I finally got it.

"What do you want me to say, Isabella? It's not like you're telling me anything" She's upset.

"Mom, it's not what you think."

"Then explain it to me Bella, because it was unexpected news your father and I had to find out about during our morning breakfast. It was difficult getting into this place while being bombarded by questions about the pictures of my daughter kissing Edward Smith in a public park." She fixes her napkin on her lap, keeping her poise and tone of voice.

"It just happened, and to put an end on your speculation, Edward and I just decided to start dating yesterday when those pictures were taken."

"How did you guys get together? Mom had only told me about your encounter with him in the Books for Cure event. That means it didn't stop there." She smirks.

"We actually ran into each other again at Lavo and that's when he asked me out."

"What the hell is Lavo?" My mother interjects.

"It's a restaurant that has an adjoining nightclub." Scarlett answers her question for me.

"I went with Laura, her girlfriend, and Rachel, in addition to Gavin and some of his friends."

"Of course, your brother was there." She rubs her temple in disapproval.

"Yes, I didn't want to accept his invitation but he convinced me and the date ended up being so much more. I've been with him for a day mom." I try to get on her good side.

"Don't tell that to me. Tell it to your father. This isn't any man. We are talking about Edward Smith. A man you've known for less than two months and not to mention 10 years you're senior."

"Isn't dad 7 years older than you?" Scarlett comes to my defense.

"I'm not looking at his age as much as I'm looking at the time frame of their relationship development." She looks at me. "You are the youngest child your father has and we all know how differently he treats you, and let me just say that he is looking at that age difference with a magnifying glass."

The waiter comes back with our drinks.

"He is a charismatic man." She utters out of nowhere, causing me to smile.

"He is. Yesterday was great and something is drawing me to him." I confess.

"Then I'm happy for you. I won't bring up his name but I'm glad Edward has none of "his" qualities or connections to "him"." She was clearly talking about Walter.

"Well, I'm glad you approve of his character."

"How could I not? He is a gentleman, a philanthropist, successful businessman and it's apparent by your beaming face that he took excellent care of you yesterday."

"Thank you Mother." My mom is tough and overwhelmingly honest at times, but I know she always has my best interest at heart.

"I can't wait to see again him at the Gala." She alludes.

"I love how you threw that in there mom." Scarlett laughter fills up the room.

"Who says he'll be there?" I cross my arms in question.

"Of course he'll be there, because he will be your date." Mom and her conclusions. "It can be your introduction as a couple and having him there will elevate the event. Anna would love to have him there." Since my mom was Chairman of Lyon Publications and Vogue was one of the publications they manage, her presence is an obligation. All of my siblings were going and it is considered the biggest fashion event of the year hosted by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in collaboration with Ana Wintour.

"We will see mother…"

"It's less than two weeks away Bella…." She copies my drawn out tone.

"I'm excited to meet him and I'm guessing that Adam will ask all of the questions that Gavin didn't." Scarlett adds. Like I've said before, my brother Adam was the more serious twin. "Speaking of the Met I have my dress fitting today and I'm taking this girl with me."

"Mommy is gonna wear a bigggg princess dress." Daphne interrupts her masterpiece to open her arms wide. "I choose the color!"

"You chose the color!" I match her excitement.

"Yeah…" Her concentration returns towards Moana.

"Do you have your dress ready Bells?"

"Yes, the designer is from Kosovo and I saw her dresses on Instagram. I contacted her team and she actually sent someone to measure me and we both came up with the design which wasn't a hassle since she specializes in floral gowns." The theme of this year's MET was Blossoming Nature.

"Will she be there with you?"

"She can't, but I'm the only person wearing her brand so I want to do a good job. It's good to support designers and the dress is coming out exactly how I wanted it."

"Does dad has his tux ready? Please tell me it has flowers on It." my dad hated these types of events.

"Your father will be wearing an Armani suit."

"Dad always un-invites himself, Bella haven't been to this event in a while but Dad's face is the look of death when the dreadful MET comes around. How does he explain it mom?" Scarlett asks.

"He says that it's the only party in the world where people dress up and talk about their dresses." My mom says with a smile. "He especially hates it when we have to stop by to talk to Gustave. I think he knows better than to ask your father anything." Gustave is a fashion journalist and right-hand man to Ana. He always has a designated spot at the steps of the MET where he interviews everyone who arrives.

"I bet he will fall in love with Edward."

"I don't know if Edward and I will do any interviews."

"Bella, you need to talk to Gustave. It's the first time he will see you in a long time and since this will be Live on the Vogue website he will be hurt if you don't at least say hi."

"mmmmm" Is the only thing that reverberates from my mouth.

"Edward is a charismatic man. I, in comparison, have to threaten the possibility of a divorce to your father every year. It works." She shrugs her shoulders and takes another sip.

"I think dad always says yes because he doesn't want to split anything." I laugh.

"Your father is a magnificent lawyer, but when I met him at a party I was still in college and he was just starting out the firm, so a prenup wasn't an option to discuss. Plus, I was smart enough not bring it up just in case another woman showed up."

"You and dad never went through that a tough phase in your marriage. I would see you guys fight but they were always things that were quickly resolved." Scarlett says.

"Your father and I love each other. The love is so strong that it permits me to joke around the divorce topic because we both know that it's never going to happen. Nevertheless, don't be fooled by what you see. There came a time before we got married that something surfaced that almost ruined our wedding."

"Mom…" I say as I'm glad that Daphne was not listening to this since she has her earphones on and still painting.

"Let me explain. Four months before the wedding, word was going around campus that I had cheated on your father with a man that I hadn't even met. Well, that went all the way to your father's ear and he believed the rumors so he came to my dorm and after a long discussion about it I realized that I couldn't get married to a man who believed in other people before me and he realized that he couldn't be married to a woman like me."

The food that we had ordered minutes before had arrived but none of us were touching it. The food had to wait.

"Wait, he said that to you." Scarlett was shocked by this revelation.

"No! I'm saying that because he chose to believe the wrong people. The same people who were saying that I was a slut for doing that to Charlie. I'm telling you two this because you're my children and because it's a lesson you always have to carry in a relationship. Now, where was I...?" She pauses for a moment. "Ahh yes, after that discussion we called off the wedding and after two months it came out that a woman who had dated your father was jealous of us being together so she convinced a guy from my university to lie and create the rumor that I had slept with him. After that everything changed. Our plan was for me to finish college and to get married straight after, when that didn't happen I just finished college and got a job at a small editorial company while living with a friend in a small one bedroom apartment in Brooklyn. It was then another month passed by when your father was waiting for outside my place of work. He asked me if I could go with him to talk to which I said no and kept on walking to the nearest train station to take me home. Days passed and I was getting showered with calls to the apartment and work, not to mention flower deliveries from a flower shop in Manhattan."

"Dad was spending the money to make you notice him."

"Yes, and what he didn't know was that he couldn't buy my forgiveness. I finally answered one of those many phone calls and told him to stop and that I was already seeing another man. He didn't take it that well so like a good lawyer he went through your grandparents and my friend to apologize. They in exchange tricked me into going to a housewarming party that was actually your father's apartment. I arrived and soon realized that the only guest was me and that the only host was your father. We had a terrible fight that ended up in him telling me that he was sorry and that out of rage he went seeking for other women's attention. I didn't even care about the other women because we were already broken up but he begged me to take him back. I'm not going to say the other things that were said because its best of that stays between your father and I, but you know what happens."

"Just tell us what made you change your mind and give him another chance." I say, intrigued by the outcome.

"He looked very remorseful and told me that from that day forward he wouldn't doubt anything I said. The situation was eating him up and I wasn't happy without him either, therefore I forgave him with many conditions attached to them and he insisted for us to get married the next day in a courthouse."

"I thought you guys had a church wedding."

"We did. I didn't leave your father's apartment that night and the next day we got legally married at the New York City courthouse. What you didn't know was that I was already pregnant with your brothers when we had the mass a month later. They were actually conceived that night when I stayed at the apartment."

"Okay… I think we can stop the story right there but wow…" Scarlett takes a deep breath. "The strange thing is that even with you telling us that it still doesn't change how I see him."

"And it shouldn't. I want you guys to know your worth but to also recognize the love you have with the people you end up with. It will help for when you do go through those challenging times, so moral of the story… Don't get a prenup." She jokes. "To this day he still sends me flowers from the same flower shop and I reward him with lots of sex."

"Mom!" We both exclaim in discomfort.

"Ohh I'm sorry I have two daughters who are evidently not virgins be offended by the comments that I still have sex and very good sex with their father. Both of you are such prudes."

"I need an Alka-Seltzer." I say, feeling a disturbance in my stomach by her declaration.

"I can tell you and Edward are going to have a very active sex life. He looks to be very demanding in everything he does."

"I'm not going to discuss that with you. We just started dating." I say in a high pitch tone so she can drop it.

"I give it the second date rule." She looks at Scarlett who diverts her gaze to avoid giving her own opinion. "Don't look away little miss Scarlett Elizabeth, I can recall when I caught you in a lie when you told me you were coming down with a cold and couldn't go to lunch with me. Hours later I find you by coincidence at the same restaurant with Lorenzo, kissing and looking very satisfied if you ask me. It was the day after your second date with the man."

"I didn't say anything…" She lifts her hands.

"Fine. I will let go of the subject but you know better than to test the woman who gave birth to the both of you and with a combined 42 hours of labor for all of you. I should get a fucking award."

"Can we refrain from foul language?" Scarlett bends her head towards Daphne. "She already has a piggy bank at the apartment with enough money to get her through college. That's why we almost never leave her at your house unless if it's emergency. Lorenzo's parents at least do it in Italian."

"I'm sorry if I don't know another language. Our background is good old English."

"You are such a classy lady mom." I grab my mom's hand. "I really try sweetheart." She replies as we both teasingly smile at Scarlett who is having none of it.

"Mommy, when are we going to the toy store?" Daphne asks, she had taken off her earphones and was waiting for a long time.

"We need to eat first. You can't go to the toy store on an empty stomach, you're tummy will be rumbling." Her mother replies with a tickle. "What are you guys doing today?"

"I need to go to the bank. The bank feels the need to call your father for a transaction approval on what I purchase or when I need to withdraw money. It's the first time this has happened since I changed my card and since it's the joint account the person who they should be calling is me."

"That's a little sexist." I state.

"I'm going to set them straight."

"Mom is such a boss lady." Scarlett grins at my moms's firmness and I have to agree that the lady does get stuff done.

"In a world like this, I would expect my children to learn some qualities from their mother, especially you both." She points to the two of us. "I am so proud of you because you have been able to establish your own life. And even though your father would be more than happy to spoil you for the rest of your life, he also knows that you've grown up and now are competing in professions that are primarily dominated by men." She exhales. "I want you two to demand respect not only in your work life but in your personal relationships as well."

"Thanks mom." Scarlett lifts her glass.

"And Bella…" I look at her. "Tread carefully." When she says I immediately know she is talking about Edward.

"Mommy I'm done! Let go!" Daphne makes us break eye contact.

"Want to join us Bells?" Scarlett gives me the face of "say yes please".

"There is no place I'd rather be." I retort.

 _ **Two weeks later….**_

 **Edward Pov**

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"You don't want me to be your plus one?" I am sitting in my office doing last minute errands when I get a call from Bella. Two weeks have passed that I convinced her to be with me, and she is getting more and more beautiful every time we meet up or when I pick her up from work for dinner.

Our relationship has progressed but not as fast as I wanted it to go. We've been going out a lot just the two of us and she's already been by the apartment where she met Flynn, who I may add may love her more than me. Traitor. Tomorrow we have planned to go to the MET Gala and really make our introduction as a couple. I was fucking ready to show everyone there that she was mine.

"I wouldn't take anyone else." She answers in that melodious voice that gives me a hard on each time I hear it. "My parents and siblings will be there. Are you ready to meet them?"

"I'll be fine." I reassure her. It's not like I'm the first man they'll meet that is dating their daughter. The only man I can think of that they didn't meet personally was Walter. "They're probably used to having men meeting them."

"I'm sorry?" She changes her tone.

"Bella, I think I'm not the first man you take to meet your parents."

"I'm well aware of that Edward. What I don't like is how you said it." Shit, I pissed her off.

"I'm sorry love, I didn't mean it that way." I better fix this fast.

"What did you mean?" She insists, and in my mind I can see her cross her arms waiting for an answer.

"You're a beautiful woman Bella. I'm a man so I also notice when other men stare at you when we are out."

"Edward that has nothing to do with my past dating life, and it shouldn't affect you. What I don't like is that it sounded as if you were insinuating something about me."

"No!" I vow.

"Okay…" She gives me an unconvincing reply. I'm officially losing this conversation.

"My intentions weren't to insult you. I just want to differentiate myself from the other guys that have met your family."

"My family will love you. My past relationships are in the past and you don't need to be worried in how many or who they were."

"I'm sorry my love. Will you forgive me?" The last thing I need is for her to be turned off by these comments even though Walter isn't in the past. How could she say that when she ruined his life and the reason he can't bear to show his fucking face in public?

"I forgive you."

"I'll show you how sorry I am tomorrow."

"On the dancefloor, I hope." She giggles.

"I was thinking you can stay over after we attend the party."

"Edward…" This was probably the fourth time I suggested the sleepover and I was going fucking insane. Each time I see her I feel like I need to take a fucking shower just to calm my severe cases of blue balls.

"We don't have to do anything. I am happy with holding you in my arms."

"Really?" she says in amusement.

"I have to warn you that Flynn will be sleeping on top of you."

"My bear… I'll think about it. No promises." Yes! At least it's not a negation.

"I'll pick you up at 7 p.m. The only thing you need is a toothbrush."

"I'm not promising anything…"

"Dream of me." I decide to ignore her last sentence.

"You wish. Now let me sleep. It's 11 p.m. and we still have a workday ahead of us." She's about to hang up.

"Wait! What are you wearing?" The real response to that inquiry I will never know since she laughs and chooses to hang up first.

Coincidentally, after I hang up with her my cellphone starts ringing again.

"Are you going to tell me what you're wearing?"

"What the fuck?"

"Shit! Sorry man I thought it was somebody else." It was Walter.

"Bella perhaps?"

"Yes. I was just talking to her a minute ago."

"How is she?" He questions.

"Why are you asking?"

"Calm down man. I'm just asking you a question."

"Sorry man." I run my hand across my hair. "I feel as if I'm slowly losing my shit with her."

"I've had the same feeling."

"We actually got into it while we were talking because I had made an unsavory comment about her dating life, specifically about how many men she's been with."

"That reminds me of when we were together. We use to get into so many fights about shit like that." He chuckles.

"I don't find it fucking funny. It's frustrating as shit and that is added to the no sex rule she has undertaken because she wants us to "walk not run"." I state in air quotes. "She's already been by the apartment several times and nothing."

"Story of my life man, however, maybe you will have the magic touch." He says.

"Sex is just a bonus. What I really want is for her to fall in love with me and be transparent about those past relationships, including what she had with you. This is going so fucking slow and I need it to go faster. Every time I feel like I make a progress, my fucking anger comes out and it's like I take two steps back."

"Isabella is a romantic at heart. It won't be difficult for you to make her fall head over heels. She radiates passion and that's a dangerous road for a man to take because then she becomes a fantasy. She will reel you into a place with no fucking return."

"That's it! it's fucking infuriating. Tomorrow I'm going with her to the MET Gala and it's going to be the first time that I will be meeting her family."

"Good luck with that…." He says cynically.

"I need to keep my cool and be accepted, even though I want to cuss the shit out of her father."

"The only advice I would give to you given the fact that we've been friends for more than a decade is to turn up the charm, make him believe that you are a great guy for his daughter."

"I think I'll manage." I say with self-assurance.

"Calm down Smith. You may have the money and the looks but with Mr. Greene you'll have to bring that charm to the forefront. She's his youngest daughter and the relationship there is drastically different. My dad doesn't treat me and my sister the same as my little sister." That's true. At least in my family, Alice can do no wrong. I think she can get away with murder and Jasper was lucky in his case for having my dad already on his side when they met since they are both in the medical field.

"I can handle him. It can be a change for him to see a man that is not eating from his daughter's hand." If he expects a submissive man then he has another thing coming.

"Then don't let them see the jealousy because that is a very noticeable weakness you have my friend, you may even have to see Grant Butler." He mentions.

"I forgot about that fucking toolbox." I growl.

"Yeah yeah…You still need to add him to your competition. He's a toolbox that wants her and badly. I remember he would call Bella every other day back in Chicago. The motherfucker had no respect when it came to our relationship."

"Is he in love with her?" I ask.

"Is he in love with her?" he repeats after me and chuckles. "If she came to him tomorrow and told him to marry her, he would literally get a priest and drag him to her office at the museum." Thinking about his possessiveness at the Books for Cure makes me believe that Walter words are speaking the truth.

"Well she's with me now so he better measure his steps and back the fuck up."

"You'll kill it my man and if you find a hot model, make sure to slip her my number."

"I'll try. Thanks for the confidence boost after that beat down." I say sarcastically.

"I won't say more mastermind. See you at your office on Thursday."

"Meeting is at 8 a.m." We say our goodbyes as I hang up thinking in anticipation about Bella and her family.

 **Bella Pov**

"I'm here! I'm here" I hurry into my apartment out of breath from a full day of work and rush hour traffic. I see Rachel sitting comfortably while our good friends Melanie and Lydia were glamming her up. I thought the only person that I knew that was going to the MET was me.

"What! We had to kill time." She explains.

"Bella, why don't you take a quick shower so we can do our magic on you?" Lydia recommends. Her along with Melanie were owners of one of New York's busiest hair and makeup salons. I quickly let go of my belongings, greet both of them plus Rachel and run towards the bathroom. After my shower, they were already done with Rachel.

"Now I have an excuse to go out tonight." She checks herself in the mirror. "I'll have to call a couple of people to see if they're free."

"You always sound like a mafia boss when you say that… And my brother will not be available for you tonight." I add.

"Of course Gavin isn't available. He's gonna be busy hanging out with your man." She winks at me. "And by the end of the night, you will be hanging out with your man."

"I shouldn't have told you anything." I press my fingers against my temple.

"Tell her what?" Melanie asks in curiosity as she does my hair.

"Bella is going to spend the night at her man's apartment for the first time."

Melanie and Lydia hoot in delight.

"She didn't want to mention it but as her roommate, I do have the right to know if she'll be out until tomorrow. It avoids the phone calls to 911 from me asking about my girlfriend's whereabouts."

"I'll be safe and sound." I smile. Rachel always has a way to talk about your personal life but then make you happy to have a friend like her that is worried about your wellbeing.

"Hey! Him being rich as fuck doesn't mean he won't lock you up in his luxury apartment. I expect a phone call in the morning and a full report when you get home."

"Yes ma'am" I wave my hand in the form of a salute.

"What do you have planned out after you get home?" Melanie pushes for more details.

"I don't know… I think we're just going to talk. Time is flying by so rapidly that I want to get to know him better before we make the decision to make it official."

"I packed a couple of condoms for you." Rachel admits, hearing that makes me whip my head towards her. "Don't give me that face Bella. You have no idea what's going to happen tonight and you need to stay protected."

"I am protected!" I screeched out, big mistake Isabella.

"Didn't you stop taking your birth control in Chicago?" Rachel squares her eyebrows in defiance.

"I did…but just in case, I had an appointment with the gynecologist and started it again…"

"Welcome to the club sista!" She immediately stands up and gives me a hug. "I'm going to take those condoms out of your bag and put lube instead."

"Rachel!" There is no point in shouting on my part when she is already out of earshot. I'll take it out before I leave.

Eventually, time passes and my hair was already done in a nice twist and low braid, and my makeup consisted of gold and brown tones with a pink matte lip. It was already 7:30 p.m and Edward would be here in half an hour.

"Time for the dress." Melanie announces. In that moment the apartment phone rings.

"I'll get it!" Rachel only runs for two things. Food delivery and when she doesn't want me to know what it is. "Hi! Yes! Come on up!" she presses the buzzer that lets the people who are downstairs in.

"Who is it rache?"

"You'll see." Seriously one of these days her surprises are going to give me a heart attack. Less than a minute goes by when there is a knock at the door.

"Mr. Castell, please take a seat." Rachel makes room so that the man and his partner can come in. the partner looked like a bodyguard.

"Thank you, Ms. Lopez and you must be Ms. Greene. Nice to meet you my name is Ricardo Castell." He extends his right hand for me to shake. "This is Mr. Dillard." He adds referring to the big man behind him.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Castell, as you can understandably tell..." I reply, still in my robe. "I wasn't expecting any visitors at this hour."

"No worries, Ms. Greene. We got a call this morning at our establishment for us to do a special delivery at your home. You are going to the MET Gala tonight I'm correct?"

"Yes…" I answer weary and confused. "I'm sorry Mr. Castell. From what establishment did you say you were?"

"My mistake Ms. Greene, we are from Chopard."

"You mean Chopard…The Jewelry store?" I question, not sure if it was them or not.

"Exactly." He retorts and from the corner of my eye I can see Rachel nodding and Melanie and Lydia getting excited.

"Rachel, did you call them?" I ask her to which she replies "Nope." with a smile on her face.

"Ms. Greene, we actually got the call from Mr. Smith who is a great client of ours requesting for us to bring you some jewelry for you to choose from for your event tonight."

"Rachel!" I immediately get to the culprit of this situation.

"He called me asking if you had your jewelry ready for tonight to which I told him that you had but that it was never bad to have more options."

"Why are you two always talking? It's like the relationship you have with my mother. You need to tell me these things!" This was too much.

"Edward and I are building our relationship and if it's going to be based on surprising you then so be it. Now shut up and let the poor man do his job." Mr. Castell was waiting patiently for us to end our discussion. I think it was the first time he's seen a woman fight against receiving jewelry.

"Can I?" He lifts his black suitcase and places it on the coffee table to spread everything out. When he did open it up it was looking at a treasure chest. It was filled with diamonds of every color and sizes, set in either gold or silver.

We all shrieked in amazement.

"Holy shit! Que Belleza!" Rachel compliments in Spanish and the only thing I can catch is beautiful.

"We have several options for you Ms. Greene so the only thing you need to do is choose. Do you see any piece you're leaning towards?"

I really didn't want to get attached to anything but unfortunately, my eye catches the glimmering light of a pair of emerald teardrop earrings that have white diamonds surrounding it. I point to them in an instant.

"Very nice." He picks them up with his glove-covered hands. "These are pear-cut emerald teardrop earrings, set in a dazzling 20 carat white gold and adorned in small round diamonds. The emeralds are from Colombia and they are considered the finest quality emeralds around."

"Bella, they match your outfit perfectly!" Melanie exclaims.

Mr. Castell helps me place them on my ears as I then look back and realize how good they look in the mirror.

"They're perfect! Now for the bracelet!" Rachel says overenthusiastically.

"I'm more than fine with the earrings."

"No. Ms. Lopez is right Ms. Greene. I think a nice bracelet will bring together the overall feel." He searches in the field of jewels and makes a discovery.

"Here we go." He lifts up the emerald and diamond bracelet and attaches it around my wrist. "Now it's perfect."

"Bella, Edward is going to be here in 15 minutes. We need to get you into your dress and finish getting ready."

"I'm glad you're happy with your choices Ms. Greene. We will now leave you to get on with your evening." He packs up and stands.

"Thank you, Mr. Castell. Before you leave, when do I have to bring these pieces back to you? I imagine that Mr. Dillard will be by my side making sure nothing happens to them." A grin forms on his lips.

"There is no need for Mr. Dillards assistance Ms. Greene, because these pieces are officially yours to keep." What! What do you mean they're mine?!

"I'm sorry Mr. Castell. I am just borrowing. I can't keep them." I explain.

"Mr. Smith has requested to purchase any piece of jewelry you choose for tonight's event. No borrowing contract is necessary in this case."

I'm scared to ask but I have to my own sanity. "How much will this cost Mr. Castell?" I brace myself for impact.

"Mr. Smith has requested for that information to only be communicated to him personally." He walks towards the door where Rachel helps him to open it.

"Mr. Castell!" He bids us a goodbye and leaves like an illusionist with a shitload of expensive jewelry and a hitman to protect him at all costs.

"I need a glass of anything…" I plopped myself on the sofa.

"No time for that missy. It's dress and shoes time." The girls help me up and pull me to get the stunning designer garment on. A long pine green embroidered masterpiece with intricate leaf and flower designs all over and a neckline that went below my breast showing a good amount of cleavage.

"Do you need some nipple tape? The girls are looking fantastic." Rachel asks.

"I have some in my bag." Lydia replies.

"I don't think so…" I look at myself in the mirror once again but now complete with my white sandal shows and black clutch in hand. "I love the dress but be honest, does my chest look slutty? I don't want Edward to get upset."

"You look fucking fantastic. Who the fuck cares about Edward? He's going to be upset either way because every man there is going to admire every single inch each of you."

"Thank you. I really appreciate all the help you have given me today." I kiss them and in good time my phone starts ringing. He's here.

"Hello?"

"Hi beautiful." That voice always has a way to make my knees weak every time I hear it.

"Hi." I try not to sound giddy since the girls were with me.

"I'm already downstairs. Is there any way you can get me into the garage? There are paparazzi outside your building and I don't want you to ruin that beautiful dress of yours."

"Of course! I'll let you in and head down."

"You're staying with me tonight so don't forget your bag." He maintained in a low tone.

"I won't" I say even though I did forget for a second about that and now the nerves were settling in. I hang up.

"I'll help you with the bag. You focus on the dress." Rachel grabs my weekender bag and follows me out of the apartment. When we do get to the garage the driver approaches Rachel to take my bag and Edward gets out of the Lincoln Navigator SUV to assist me, looking incredibly handsome in a blue tuxedo complete with matching bow tie.

"I am questioning myself whether to take you to the gala or back to my place. You look astonishingly gorgeous." He takes my face and inches it to his for a long kiss.

"Okay! It's kind of chilly out here and mama would like to get ready for her own night out." Edward is the first to pull away. They both get me into the car without damaging the dress.

"Edward, you are in charge to take care of my Bella."

"You will have her back without a hair missing from her head." He assured her.

"My job here is done. Have fun kids and Edward… I expect an extravagant gift for what I did for you today. This girl almost chewed my head off when she found out." She said referring to the jewelry I was currently wearing.

"Of course! Anything you want." He laughs.

I kiss Rachel and lift the black tinted window so we can head out into the night. I detected that as we are driving there is another SUV following us.

"Edward?" He notices me staring at the rearview mirror.

"There is no need to panic. It's just security. Tonight is a big night so we need extra hands on deck to prevent and protect." This is the first I'm experiencing being intentionally followed and not followed by paparazzi.

"Are they going to be with us all night?"

"I'm aware that there is security at the party but for tonight two of them will be only for us and the other two will be working around the perimeter."

"Is it really necessary?"

"I promised Rachel I would keep you in one piece and I also don't want anything to happen to your new gift." He plays with my emerald bracelet.

"Edward, speaking about that… You didn't have to buy me this jewelry and I have to admit that I didn't like it when the man from Chopard couldn't tell me how much they would cost. It's just for a night."

"It doesn't matter Bella. You love them and I want them to remind you of an unforgettable night." I look into his eyes and that's when I know what this jewelry is going to remind me of.

"I guess it's going to remind me of you." I reach my hand out and caress his clean shaven face. "You have emerald green eyes."

"That's all I want." He delicately kisses me. "Actually…" He retracts. "I want for you to be mine."

"Didn't we have this conversation two weeks ago when you had me against a tree?" I tease. "I'm already yours."

"Yes but I want it to be official. Dating won't be enough and even though you agreed with me two weeks ago, it feels like we are still at the dating phase. Isabella Greene, will you be my girlfriend?"

"Yes." With no time to really reflect on it I answer and within seconds Edward's lips go straight on top of mine.

"Good, because I want to go to this gala, meet your family and go back to my place so I can have you all to myself."

We get to the Gala and the whole place is filled with celebrities, designers, reporters and photographers that need that shot for tomorrow's news segment and magazines. Edward helps me get out the car so I wouldn't trip and fall directly on my face. I didn't have a publicist or an assistant to help me with my dress, making Edward my assistant for the night.

"Bella! Edward! Over here!" The photographers start hounding us from both sides.

At first, Edward grabs me by the waist as we pose together for pictures to satisfy the frenzy. For them it's never enough and the lights were almost blinding and it was the first time I was in an even of this magnitude since I wasn't really interested in being in the spotlight. After a couple of minutes, Edward pulls away and takes a step back, allowing me to show off the dress. I promised Agnesa (the designer) that I would make her proud and I felt honored to be wearing her dress tonight.

"Bella! More! Bella! Beautiful! One more!" They keep shouting but we had to keep it moving to be able to make it to the top where Gustave was sitting down interviewing other famous figures.

"Bella!" Edward and I step into his little designated space. Gustave takes my hands and tugs me to take a closer look. "Stunning! Absolutely breathtaking!" We do the double kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you." I smile.

"It's been awhile since we've last seen each other, hasn't it?"

"Yes." It's the only thing I respond. Not really wanting to get into the details.

"Now you're back and you have brought a very attractive man with you." Gustave and Edward shake hands.

"Nice to meet you, Edward Smith." Edward introduces himself.

"No introductions for you, you're one of the most important men in all of New York City."

"I appreciate the kind words."

"Is this your debut of sorts as a couple?" He goes straight for the kill.

"You could say that." I look at Edward. "And if you want to know if we're dating then the answer is yes."

"Very exciting. Now tell me, who are you wearing?" He touches the fabric of my skirt. I guess its back to fashion.

"I'm wearing Agnesa. She's an up-and-coming designer from Kosovo and from the moment I saw her dresses I wanted her to make mine. She couldn't be here tonight but I hope I'm not letting her down. Her pieces deserve to be shown to the world."

"This is the best place to display it darling. This is a high couture moment. Head to toe perfection is what I'm looking at."

"Thank you." I reply.

"And I can't leave you out." He turns his head towards Edward. "What are you wearing this evening, I have to say that I'm loving this blue."

"Tom Ford."

"You are a tall man. How tall are you?" The thing with Gustave is that he sometimes comes up with the most random questions ever.

"6'5."

"Very nice." Gustave looks interested in him. "I won't keep you two for much longer. Make sure to soak up the experience and have a wonderful time." He concludes the interview. Edward and I express our gratitude and head inside.

"That wasn't bad." I say as we hold hands and walk through the exhibition.

"Not bad at all. Though I may have to say he was very impressed with my height."

"I don't think your height was the only thing he was impressed with." We laugh.

Since this year's theme was Blossoming Nature the museum was beautifully decorated. Starting with the stairs inside that were draped in greenery and plants on the side to make it seems as if we were climbing a hill, the hallway had models in gowns posing and facing a huge sculpture that was decorated with a skirt that was made of tiny flowers, and by the time we got into the main venue the ceiling was filled with more hanging flowers and sculptures.

"Bella!" I hear a familiar voice call me.

It was Maya.

"Hey!" We make our way through the crowd. "You look great!" I comment to her exquisite appearance in a strapless white gown with intricate lavender patterns from top to bottom and a centerpiece of a ruffled skirt that opened from her waist and had the same lavender color. Her makeup was flawless with delicate silver and pink colors and her jewelry was a match to her dress in amethyst and diamonds stones. My brother really lucked out with her.

"You look so beautiful!" She grabs me and kisses my cheek. "Love the braid."

"My hair? Your hair is indescribable."

"I consider my weaves elevate my look when I want them too." She jokes. Maya's hair is shorter than the weave she was currently wearing. This hair was in curls and with a length going to her shoulders. I did see my mom and Scarlett in the distance and they also looked great. Mom had a beautiful green and light purple ensemble on with a slick bob and Scarlett had an elaborate yellow leaf dress. For a few more seconds we got lost in our beauty gossip before I realized I had to introduce her to my company.

"I'm so not used to doing this." I look back at Edward and move. "Maya, this is Edward Smith. Edward this is my sister in law Maya Greene."

"Nice to meet you!" Edward offers his hand but that move is not for Maya.

"I'm not a girl that goes through life with handshakes Edward." She opens up her arms and he of course goes in for the hug. "That's more like it. Now let me get Bella's brother." She walks away to the group where he was in and quickly comes back with him.

"Honey, Bella's here and look who she brought."

"I finally get to meet the famous Edward Smith." He immediately hugs me and gives a firm handshake to Edward.

"I get to meet the famous Adam Greene." Edward Responds.

"Hopefully, you´re not getting me confused with my crazy brother. He's probably chasing after several models."

They both share a laugh at that comment which makes me sigh in relief. At least this first meeting went smoothly. Let's see what happeneds with my sister and parents.

 **Edward Pov**

Meeting Bella's other brother was a breeze. The guy was serious but relaxed at the same time and we got to talk about business for a while. You can tell he was different from his twin brother who in his words was a notorious party boy. During the conversation I would take a glance at Bella who was working the mass with an otherworldly confidence not only with women, but with the men who were probably only listening to a bunch of words and more interested in staring at her breast rub together. I couldn't help but feel anger run through my veins. Her dress had a low cut cleavage and her chest was on display, a chest that any man would want to stick his dick in.

"Edward!" I'm thrusted back into reality when Adam calls out my name.

"Sorry man… Your sister is holding my attention hostage."

He laughs at my obvious distraction.

"Don't worry. Men are always pining for her. She's a beautiful girl."

"I've noticed that. Should I be worried?" I genuinely wanted to know his answer.

"No. Bella has always been capable of defending herself with men. She just has an appeal that makes people nervous to make an impression. My dad begged her to be a lawyer at the firm. The campaign failed and she decided on the arts."

"Thanks."

"Edward…" His face turns serious. "I'm glad that my sister's happy but I can't ignore the other things that have been written about you with women. My sister deserves a nice guy who will treat her with the upmost respect because as I said before, she's gorgeous and other men will be waiting for you to fail."

"When I met her I wasn't even sure about how our relationship would flourish, but I knew I needed to find a way to her heart. Every choice we have made til this moment has been by my request."

"I'm glad. My brother and I want you to succeed because she does look happier, but it will be in another person that your relationship will rise or fall depending on their reaction to you." By his words I knew he was speaking about his dad. The man I wanted to meet to dig in the fact I was with his daughter and the person that I was going to manipulate to ultimately destroy both of them for betraying Walter.

"This isn't your father is it?" I imply mordantly.

"Got the nail right on the head and speaking of him, I think it's time for us to head towards our table. Here." He stops a waiter and coincidently gets his hands on two glasses of what looked like bourbon. "He expects you to fail."

"I'm ready for battle." I take a sip of the dark drink.

"Are you scaring him off?" Bella returns with Maya. She interlaces her arm in mine as we head towards the Greene table.

"Hi dad" Bella says excitedly.

Both of her parents were sitting down chatting with other guests who had come over for a chat with them. Mr. Greene is immediately off his chair to greet his youngest daughter with eagerness. The man doesn't look to physically intimidating since he looked to be 5'8 which was a good 7 inches shorter than me, however, you can tell the man doesn't give a shit on what you have to say.

"You look beautiful sweetheart" He cracks a rare smile to her and gives her a warm hug.

"Thank you. Love the suit."

"I'm dragged here by your mother."

"You married her so it's a sacrifice."

'Of course…" He laughs but it was short as he catches me standing next to her. "And this is…"

"Daddy this is Edward Smith, Edward this is my dad Charlie Greene." She introduces us; little did she know we already knew about each other in a deep dark world.

"Aaa the man from the pictures." We share a very firm handshake.

"Yes sir and I apologize on how you found out. You know how hard it is to control the press given our positions."

"So now the two of you are dating. My wife told me you met at the Books for Cure event. That's bit soon don't you think."

"Charlie! Does it matter how they met. Edward! How are you?" Renee kisses me in an attempt to cut the tension.

"Yes we are together. It's soon; though, there is nothing wrong with that. Is there?" Bella challenges him.

"Why don't we take seat and I get to know more to know more about you Edward." He completely ignores her inquiry.

"Absolutely." I give Bella a reassuring look and help her take her seat, meeting her sister Scarlett and her husband Lorenzo. During our confrontation with Charlie it was clear in my mind that this motherfucker was acquainted with me, he was trying to make this a power play move but little did he see I was the one about to play him with his accomplice daughter as a pawn in my little own game. And let me say he threw all his ammunition. He asked me about everything from my job to my political status. The man was a lawyer and these bullshit questions were to throw me off.

"Daddy I think that's enough."

"Favorite NFL team?"

"I'm a Giants fan and I'm hoping we'll have a better season than last year." The whole table grinned which I already knew it was going to be a well-received answer.

"Great answer. No rivalry between you and Bella."

"Really…" I look at her for an explanation. I couldn't make it seem that I've been stalking her Instagram and had in my brain the picture of her in her tight Giants T-shirt. Plus it wasn't a lie, I'm a huge Giants fan as well.

"I love the Giants. I've been going to their games with my dad and brothers since I was little, though Mom and Scarlett are less keen about them."

"Seeing men get beat up for a ball is not really my scene and I'm not just saying this because I'm a woman. Dad can't complain that he didn't get a football loving child, he managed to get two for the price of one and brainwash Bella into it. She's a man's man with a woman's delicate taste."

"Should I be worried?" I didn't want to think about her in that situation with other men.

"No." She places her hand on my thigh and start riding it up, her fingertips titillating the skin through my pants. I look at her and see the devilish grin as she starts talking to her mom about the publication while still continuing her journey and finally resting it on the length of my hard-on.

"Okay." I grab her hand and proceed to stand up with her. "If you'll excuse us I want to take advantage of this song and dance with my lovely date."

I don't give them time to respond before I'm on the dancefloor with her in my arms.

"Are you trying to distract me from your sister's comments? Or just trying to kill me instead?"

"Me? Never…" She puts her arms around my neck and looks at me with her ocean blue eyes.

"Strange cause I would have sworn to have felt a small hand on my pe…"

"Maybe I wanted it there and my hand isn't small." She attempts to show me her grip but it's an unfair match to my robust shoulders.

"Nice try sweetheart. Now tell me about this man's man persona you have. Should I be worried about men being around you and your charms?"

"Should I be worried about your jealous tendencies? Let me remind you that you're the one that proposed for us to be together, because this is reminding me of the call we had where you made the comment about my parents and other men I've been with. Is this really going to be like this all the time?" She loosens the grip in disinterest. Oh for fuck sake not this again, keep your fucking feelings locked asshole. Jealously is the last thing I need for this whole thing to burn into the ground before I get something built.

"I don't want to mess things up with us. I'm lucky to be with the most beautiful woman here and I don't like competition."

"It's not a competition Edward. I've decided to be with you and you have to feel confident about that because at the end of the night I'm leaving with you. Aren't I?"

"Yes you are." I dip my head enough to capture her lips. "Were those hands a preview of what's to come." I mumble in her lips.

"What do you think?" She winks.

"I guess this party is over. Let's go." I try to pick her up.

"We just got here and I still feel your friend pressing up against my thigh."

"Is that a problem?" I raise an eyebrow.

"It won't be later but half of New York is here and I don't think my family will appreciate it as much as I will later. Now let's dance and spend time with them."

"Quality time with family….Great….." She pulls me the opposite direction.

Her comment turns into about three hours and when I see a little yawn come out of her mouth I instantly turned it into action because I could not wait any longer and she wasn't going to fall asleep on me by the time we got home. We say our goodbyes to her brothers, sister and their respective partners.

"Bye daddy." She kisses him.

"Your mother has lost herself in the crowd in an effort to delay our departure." He places a kiss on her cheek. "I hope you make sure she gets home safely Edward and we hope to see you again."

"Be sure of it Mr. Greene. Have a good night." I shake his hand and direct Bella towards the exit. You will see me a lot Mr. Greene even in your dreams as I'm having my way with your most precious asset.

"Were you scared to tell my dad I was staying with you tonight?" We get to the car as she yawns once again and lays her head against my shoulder.

"I don't you would even be here with me if I had told him that detail. He would have driven you home." I kiss the top of her head. "Are you tired?"

"No…"

"I can think of something that will wake you up." I comment.

"Really…" she glances up at me.

 _Back at the apartment…._

"Flynn!" She calls in delight as he runs towards her. It's like I cease to exist in his eyes when she's around. "How's my fluffy ball of love?"

"Flynn, it's way past your bedtime. Go to bed."

"Don't be mean. He wants some cuddles." She takes off her heels and sits down on the floor giving him the chance to lay on her legs for belly rubs.

"I'm going to get us some wine, any preference milady?"

"You're the expert."

I head to the wine cellar to get a bottle of Cabernet and pour us two glasses. I walk back to the living room to find them gone. It only took a couple of searches until I found them sitting outside on the balcony.

"It must be so nice to be this close to the Chrysler and the Empire State Buildings, especially at night. It never gets old." She exhales in amazement, covering her shoulders with a light blanket that I keep on the outdoor sitting area.

"That's why I bought the apartment." I give her a glass and sit down next to her pulling her close to me. "Did you enjoy yourself?"

"I did. It was good and even though I don't normally attend these types of events it was nice to catch up with people I hadn't seen in a long time."

"I'm glad." This was my chance to press on the topic I was most interested in. "Do you miss Chicago?"

"I have really nice memories there but I'm happy to be home. Chicago was a learning experience." She takes a sip as if to stop the discussion about it.

"Did you ever date while there?" I press on causing her to laugh in amusement to my inquiry.

"You are quite interested in my dating history Mr. Smith."

"I just want to know what they did wrong to lose such a beautiful specimen."

"Thank you for the compliment, however….Those topics are in the past and I would rather not talk about them just like I would imagine you wouldn't want to speak about your old flings. Am I wrong?" She looks up at me.

"I don't have an issue talking about it." Nice one Smith. We both know you're lying through your teeth. You can't even count the girls with your fingers and relationships she has probably already seen by looking for them on the internet and past magazine publications.

"Good, but I wouldn't force you to tell me anyway because this relationship only has space for two people. The past doesn't count."

Shit…I don't know how I'm going to get this out of her but I will and the sooner the better. She is not willing to talk about it because she's worried about her conscience of what she's done and the life she ruined. I decide to stop my attempt and talk about other things like work and family.

"I think Flynn is down for the count." She gestures to me as our second glass of wine is emptied into our stomachs.

"He gets lots of exercise playing with his friends at School."

"I find it so cute that he goes to school."

"What can I say…He likes to learn." I shrug my shoulders. "However, the dog suffers from fomo (fear of missing out). Watch…" I proceed to stand up and out of pure instinct and sound recognition he wakes up from his slumber as if we were leaving him.

"Hi bear!" She covers her mouth trying not to laugh at his fomo condition.

"Flynn, how can you hear every single thing huh big guy?" I scratch behind his ears and belly.

"I think it's a good thing he woke up because I think it's bedtime." She stands up and picks up the two empty glasses and bottle.

"Baby, why don't you leave those things in the kitchen and get ready for bed while I handle this monster."

"Sure." She picks up her dress and saunters inside the apartment.

"Let's go Flynn" He follows me back inside and towards the kitchen as Bella went back to my room to change.

"You have free reign on the whole house buddy but tonight my room is off limits, so to keep you busy just in case…" I look in the cabinets and find the chicken flavor bone I bought today at the pet store. He, of course, gets excited and sits in anticipation.

"Good boy. Night Flynn." He doesn't even hear me as he gets comfortable in the living room to chew on his new treat.

Tonight didn't go as expected in terms of a solid discussion with Bella about Walter but I did get clues that she gets really uncomfortable talking about her love life in general. It was as if she didn't want my mind to get tainted with information that would make me believe something about her that doesn't go along with her happy go lucky personality. But then again, it didn't matter because I already knew.

When I get back to the room I noticed that the fireplace was on. I also got a glance at Bella staring at the flames with her dress still on.

"You turned on the fireplace." I said pulling from my tie.

"Yeah." She walks to me and wraps her arms around me. "I realized after going to the bathroom that there was no way I was getting out of this dress without your help."

"Really…" I responded by giving her a long kiss, a kiss that turned into a steamy battle for dominance.

"I need help with the zipper." She whispers making sure her plump lips are touching mine by the slightest bit.

"Turn around." I whisper back as she steps back and compliantly does as I say, moving her loose hair out of the way. I get a firm grip of the zipper and start pulling it down at a torturous rate to where I realize she is absent of a bra and wearing what could be the sexiest black lace thong that showed her round and peachy rear. At this point I was breathing so hard I was she could feel the warm air from her bare back to her neck where I had ultimately made my final resting place.

"Are you done?" She asks in almost a whimper as I start placing wet kisses along the length of her neck, placing my hands on her shoulders to pull down from the straps and let the dress to just fall on its own.

"Not even close." I didn't turn her around right away since I wanted her to be consumed by the feeling without even looking at me. So as the dress was lying on the floor and the fireplace in front of us was giving us its light and heat my hands roamed from her waist to soon claim her full and soft breast that were overflowing in my vast hands, I make sure to imprison them to make sure she could take in the sensation and she sure was since I could feel her nipples harden against my palm.

"Edward…" My lips didn't leave her neck and in her intoxication I felt her head falling on my shoulder pushing her breast more into her hands as I slowly massage them.

"I know baby…" In that moment I decide to move one hand and find out how she really feels from the source, delving my right hand past her stomach and into the lace piece and boy did I sense it all. She was bare and drenched.

"mmmm!" She moans and moves her ass against my groin, grabbing from my pants for stability.

"What do you want Bella?" I move my two main fingers along her slit stroking the wetness over her pulsing clit. I wanted her to beg me since I was losing my own shit and wanted her to lose control first.

"Take off…mmmm…your clothes."

"I thought we were only going to sleep." I start stroking harder. "What do you want to do?" I insist and that is when she cracks, turning around and trapping me in her mouth as we both are furiously taking off my shirt and pants. In less than a minute we are both naked and on top of the covers.

"Take me Edward." She looks into my eyes in the most demanding way and kisses me. I don't waste any more time and bend both of her legs before sinking into her as she takes me in. My god she is tight.

"Ahhhh" she closes her eyes and arches her back. I plunge further and felt as if I was going to blow before I could push the whole way in. I was really well endowed but I think the true pleasure was coming from Bella's tightness.

"Baby…" I hiss as I take a minute to gain some strength to drive myself in and out of her in a claiming pace. And if you were in my position you would understand my struggle. She was tight and I was occupying every inch of space she had, causing the rubbing to become unbearable. Beg my ass Smith, you about to lose it before her and to top it off it was about to get worst since her inner walls start to clench.

"Edward…" I was hiding in her neck but I wanted her to cum with her lips on mine. I place my hand back on her clit and with one final stroke; several loud moans erupt from her and excruciating tightness flowed over me. I kiss her to take it all in as she moans in my mouth, causing me to explode one second later.

I think I'm the one that is going to be begging.

" _ **Karma never loses an address" Unknown Author**_

* * *

 **This was the best quote for this chapter because now with Bella having the trust to give Edward her body in such a way that goes beyond sex, he will now have karma knocking on his door. His ignorance is making him blind and Bella has no way of knowing of his real plans and given the fact that he looks at sex with her as a "bonus".** **Edward will soon find out that charismatic Bella will spread into his heart and his revenge will come at an expensive price.**

 **How will he get the information he needs out of Bella?**

 **How far will he go to get it?**

 **Does Bella's father know something about Edward's involvement with Walter?**

 **That's it my friends for this chapter, I no longer promise but I will try and get the next chapter to you as soon as possible and who doesn't like a pleasant surprise. Next chapter will a jump in the timeline as Edward starts developing real feelings towards Bella, Bella wanting to plan something for Edward's birthday and Vivian keeping tabs on them to make sure her cover isn't blown.**

 **Don't forget to leave your reviews and opinions on what you think will happen with Edward, Bella and the other characters. I read every single one and you can also message me your thoughts.**

 **I love you all!**

 **See you soon!**


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